There may also be some inaccuracies, since English is not my native language.
Essentially, TBATE is first translated from English into my native language — and in that process, some details are already altered to make it more understandable for us. Now I'm taking that adapted (and somewhat distorted) version, revising it, rewriting it, and then translating it back into English.
I hope you'll point out any mistakes in the text that I might have missed.
× × × × ×
Tempering my body in the lava river over the past few days had been a good choice. Now I could concentrate 100% of the aether in any part of my body. My speed was still lacking, but that could be fixed. At the moment, I had rank eighth aether channels, one rank higher than Arthur's, as they stretched across my entire skeleton like real veins.
"Found it!" Regis shouted a few dozen meters ahead.
"Great!" The dark soil gave way to lush blue grass again as soon as we reached a sparkling pond.
Without wasting any time, I took a few refreshing sips just for the taste of the water, and Arthur refilled his wineskin before undressing and jumping into the water. I followed him. I sighed quietly at the cool touch of the water on my skin, but the feeling was blissful after several days of bathing in lava. After washing thoroughly, even though my body wasn't very dirty, I don't know how, like some kind of magical miracle, I couldn't help but look at my appearance again.
Incredibly white skin, as if someone had spilled paint, covered my new body, and even after a week and a half, I still couldn't get used to it. The pair of eyes looking at me from the water glowed like two small suns of different colors, bright lavender and liquid gold. My hair was so long that it reached past my tailbone. It was mostly black as night, standing out sharply against my white skin, but with a few strands of white curls shining down on my greatly changed face.
It may sound arrogant, but it was as if two polarities had come together in me, taking the best from women and men to create this face. Although my face had changed significantly, I still saw some similarities with my old face, but there were very few, hardly any. It was as if someone had taken my face and, as in a game, turned the beauty meter up to the maximum.
Getting out of the water, I put on all my clothes and, twirling my favorite dagger, approached the teleportation gate. Since there were two of us, we had already fought a couple of battles to get used to the changes in our bodies after being tempered in lava.
I also asked Arthur to tell me how he uses Burst Step. Not knowing how to explain it all without showing me the details of human anatomy, Arthur came up with a comical solution. He began to explain using my burned legs, after I burned them in lava, and at the moment of recovery, Arthur pointed with his finger which muscles he tensed and at what moment to achieve the desired effect.
Knowing what could come of it, I began to try to recreate the god step myself, and I think I was incredibly close to it.
Before Arthur returned to the teleportation gate, he took out a translucent stone where Sylvie was imprisoned. Even knowing what it would lead to, he poured aether into it to feel a small connection at that moment.
After his core was replenished with centipede crystals, we returned to the tall teleportation gate and stood in front of the wavy portal.
I turned to Arthur and said in a serious tone, "Arthur, this time I won't help you at all."
His eyebrow shot up, but he asked in a calm tone, "Why?"
Turning to the teleportation gate, I paused for a moment and replied, "...Because by helping you, I could harm you. More precisely, my intervention could make everything too easy and accidentally prevent one of your strongest abilities from appearing."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy," Regis said in a wild tone. "Are you saying that in the next zone, he'll get another power-up?"
Bringing my finger to his aether body, I pushed him away from my face and replied, "Not him, you'll get the power-up. I really want to tell you what will happen, but..."
"I understand," Arthur said simply, nodding with a focused expression.
Without saying another word, we both stepped inside.
"Well, this is the strangest zone," Regis muttered as we continued to stare blankly at the scene unfolding before us.
It was too surreal. I had already seen a huge centipede, two-tailed monkeys, rat the size of pumas, and huge translucent trees, but none of that compared to what I was seeing now.
Glowing platforms the size of small houses hung in the air, each one a different color, one slightly higher, another slightly further away from the rest. The platforms were connected by illuminated staircases that seemed to be made of the same material as the platforms themselves.
The sky itself, if it could even be called that, glowed dimly with a purple hue, making the place seem immersed in eternal twilight.
The teleportation gate we had passed through was one-way, because behind us was just the space of the shimmering purple sky. No sun, no moon, no visible light source, not even a horizon... nothing at all.
"At least we know what to do, right?" I said, kneeling down to examine the platform we were standing on. It glowed with a soft white light and was smooth to the touch.
Regis rolled his eyes and flew into Arthur's body. "Hooray."
I cautiously approached the glowing staircase leading to the next platform. Climbing the stairs, I reached the next platform, which glowed in various shades of red. After exchanging glances, we stepped onto the platform, knowing that the staircase would disappear immediately.
Immediately, the staircase behind us vanished, and when both feet were on the glowing red floor, the entire platform began to lengthen and expand to about four times its original size. Worse, I felt something squeeze my insides, causing me to stumble and almost fall, even though I was mentally prepared for it, the physical shock was stronger.
My breathing faltered as a cloud of purple aura flowed out of my skin. Even when I completely blocked my aether core, I could feel the aether continuing to slowly leave me, slowly draining my body and core.
Knowing what to do, I began to concentrate the aether on my right hand. With my aether gathered in one place, I could only feel it flowing out of my right hand.
We also passed through the next zone with the invisible aether beast quite easily.
We both stared at the glowing orange platform in front of us. As well as forging aether channels, the aether had further adapted to my body, strengthening my nerves to enhance my perception and reflexes. This became obvious when Arthur and I easily spotted the beast.
Shortly after the death of the reptilian centaur, the platform faded back to its original color, and the staircase returned to its normal state, connecting this platform to the next.
Reaching the end of the platform, we climbed the stairs, much more confidently than last time.
This platform was illuminated by a deep, dim blue light, and when I cautiously touched the floor with my foot, instead of pulsing like the previous platform, the tiles flickered in my field of vision, dividing the entire area into smaller squares, each about the size of my outstretched arms.
Nodding to each other, we placed our feet on one square together. When we placed our second foot on that square, the entire platform shook before suddenly rotating ninety degrees. Suddenly, we were on the left side of the square instead of the front.
"Wow, it's strange to know something through text and see it with your own eyes," Regis muttered.
I heard him because [Thought Communication[ had been turned on the whole time. We stepped onto the square to our left, the one closer to the stairs leading to the next platform. However, as soon as both of our feet touched the platform, it turned again, this time counterclockwise.
"Oh, how I love these puzzles," I said, stepping onto another square. "Give me ten minutes."
"Ten minutes? Arthur spent more than four hours here, if you look at the original story," said Regis with some amusement.
Ignoring him, I began to check possible moves and patterns in this puzzle. My seventh rank intelligence was no joke. Like a computer, I memorized the moves and at the same time modeled possible movements, superimposing them on each other.
The speed of my thoughts was insane, even for me. In the seventh minute and on the 73rd move, I finally stopped.
"Well, have you given up?" Regis asked me, his voice full of amusement. "You've been jumping around here like a monkey and haven't even gotten close to the ladder."
Instead of answering this joker, I glanced at Arthur and nodded weakly to him. His eyebrow rose, but he shrugged and let things take their course. I think he didn't really believe in me either, but the trouble was that I loved puzzles in my first life, and now, with a seventh rank intellect, it had become a little boring.
After making seven moves that were deliberate for me and thoughtless for Regis, we found ourselves back at the beginning.
"Ugh, we're here again, maybe we should join forces and..." Regis's voice trailed off when I ignored him and took a few steps that took us to the lower left corner. After a couple more steps, we were already in the upper right corner, very close to the stairs.
"Ooooh, maybe I was wrong to talk trash about you," Regis said, now cheering me on. After taking two more steps, we were back at the starting point. "Ugh, I rushed again."
Ignoring him, I took one step to the right, and we were right at the stairs. This platform was completed in 7 minutes and 48 seconds.
"Wow, are you some kind of hidden genius?" Regis' mood changed every second, and now he was praising me again.
"No, I just like puzzles," I said simply as I climbed onto the next platform.
Before moving on to the next platform, I turned to Arthur and put my hand on his shoulder. "This is the moment I was talking about. You can't count on me here, even if I'm standing right next to you."
His eyes widened, but after a second, he gritted his teeth, nodded, and said quietly, "Let's go."
When we reached the top of the stairs, I couldn't help but feel nervous. I knew what was going to happen here. I could extract several improvements from the system. There were so many aether perks accumulated there that I wouldn't be surprised if, after taking them, I could immediately rise to the peak second layer of the aether core.
But that wasn't what I wanted at that moment.
The platform was about twice the size of the previous ones and emitted an ominous black light.
I pushed my fears aside, gathered my courage, and Arthur and I stepped onto the black platform, with Regis staying close to Arthur the whole time. As soon as our feet touched the glowing black surface, the entire platform began to hum deeply.
The hum grew louder and louder until suddenly hundreds of black wires burst out from all four edges of the square platform, intersecting with each other to form a fence-like barrier that stretched high above us.
Regis raised his head and looked around. "This isn't going to end well."
A layer of aether evenly enveloped my body as I moved away from the center of the ground a few dozen meters in front of me, which began to ripple, and suddenly a large black glowing hill began to grow from its center.
The purple space around me darkened as a huge figure rose from the very ground we were standing on.
I looked up at the dark giant looming over us. The two-legged creature was at least five times taller than me and appeared to be wearing a full suit of armor made of the same dark material as the rest of its body, as well as a Viking helmet with two upward-curving horns.
As the monster stepped toward Arthur, causing the entire platform to shake, I heard the only thing Arthur could say in such a situation. "Look, Regis. It's your dad."
Regis stared at him impassively. "I liked you better when you were depressed."
The two-legged monster moved rather slowly, but the force of its blow could instantly end a life. At Arthur's command, Regis flew into its arm, and a moment later, Arthur stumbled, as I expected, barely dodging the golem's low swing.
Arthur clenched his smoky black fist and struck the giant golem's leg. The blow produced a muffled explosion, but the golem only staggered back a step. The golem let out a deafening roar, clearly angered that Arthur had managed to leave a bruise on him.
Frowning, Arthur clenched his shadow-shrouded fist again, and Regis' smoky black aura began to spread, slowly rising up his arm.
It seemed that the rune had begun to work more powerfully, because during the battle, Arthur suddenly froze, his face a mixture of all emotions at once as he noticed a powerful blow that knocked him off the ground and sent him crashing into the black fence at the very last moment.
A few moments later
I looked at Arthur's hands to see something resembling runes forming on the back of his hands. They lingered for less than a second before the runes disappeared from view. However, thanks to the aether in my body, I could feel the runes moving up his arm like a white-hot metal sphere, then down his back and legs before returning to the base of his spine.
And then I saw it, a silvery-white rune shining on his spine. I really wanted to look into the system, but I restrained myself because I realized that Arthur was slowly going mad, unable to properly control the GodRune.
The amethyst flame wrapped around his palm like a newborn. There was no unbridled fury or heat in this flame. It was cold, calm, and quiet, like the breath of something beyond this world.
At the sight of this aether flame, my body shuddered. But shaking it off, I stared mesmerized at the giant golem as it lunged at Arthur, swinging its huge arms, trying to crush him. Arthur raised his hand, and a few moments later, the golem was dead—no, not dead, it had disappeared.
A couple of seconds later, Arthur turned to me, his gaze full of despair, as no matter how hard he tried to remove the purple fire that enveloped his right hand, it would not budge. The cold flame clung to his skin, pulsating, and the rune on his back also glowed with an unearthly light.
I just shook my head and pointed my finger toward Regis. Turning his head, Arthur noticed Regis desperately rushing toward him before disappearing into his body. A few moments later, Arthur was lying as if nothing had happened, although his arm was in bad shape.
Mentally opening the system, I looked at the last two notifications
[Rank eleventh GodRune of Destruction 1/2 x10 or upgrade to Twelfth Rank?]
[Rank eleventh GodRune of Destruction 1/2 x10 or upgrade to Twelfth Rank?]
Turning my gaze to Arthur, I thought for a moment. 1/2? Surely this rune was too powerful in its early stages because it was a concept of destruction, so it was divided into two parts. Regis didn't have the insight to use the power of destruction as well as Arthur could, but Arthur didn't have the rune to use it on his own because Regis absorbed it so that Arthur wouldn't go mad.
And although I drooled at the possibility of possessing something stronger than my eleventh rank talent, I took a deep breath, clearing my mind of momentary gain, and chose x10.
[You have two parts of the rank eleventh GodRune of Destruction. Do you want to combine them? x10]
Yes
[Rank twelfth GodRune of Destruction x10]
After selecting yes, I looked at the Echoes, and now this rune was displayed in first place in a quantity of x10. Out of curiosity, I retrieved the rune with my thoughts, and in a moment, a polished white stone with purple lines appeared in my hand, which took the form of the rune on Arthur's back.
I wasn't going to use this rune now, even with the full version, I might not be able to handle it and die. The best decision for me was to wait until my little plan came to fruition. Although if I couldn't handle it, I would still use it, but until then, let it lie.
A couple of days later
Time continued to flow relentlessly as we climbed higher and higher up the glowing platforms. The purple space above our heads shone brightly, making it impossible to tell how many hours had passed. After Arthur woke up, he asked me many questions for an hour, not all of which I could answer. It was quite strange to look at the new Regis and hear his rough voice, but as always, I just shrugged and ignored it. He and Arthur had a long heart-to-heart talk after they realized that the rune only worked if they worked together.
But let's focus. We noticed several patterns when we started climbing higher up this "play area."
The color of the platforms remained the same: white, red, orange, blue, then black. We called this sequence of platforms a single 'set.' This order never changed, and each color corresponded to a specific test.
The white platform was the only safe platform. The red platforms were supposed to be a kind of test of mental or physical endurance. Except for the first red platform, which drained our ether, the subsequent ones unleashed all kinds of interesting curses on the people standing on that platform. From insatiable hunger, which could make people eat each other, to lust, depression, and so on.
It was very easy for me because the strength of my soul was off the charts, and I could easily ignore these emotional outbursts, which was a plus because it was direct proof that I could use the GodRune of destruction without going crazy, probably. But it was strange to see Arthur with a boner, his cheeks flushed and breathing heavily when strong emotions overwhelmed him.
The orange platforms were also pretty straightforward. Each one summoned enemies that we had to kill in order to move on. The number and types of monsters changed and became slightly stronger with each ascending set, but the speed at which we grew outpaced the increasing difficulty of the stages.
The blue platforms were definitely the most interesting for me. Arthur and Regis always looked miserable in this area. Each one was a puzzle of sorts, some with deadly traps, and others designed to keep you there for days so you would die of thirst and hunger. With a body that didn't need much food other than aether, the test was very easy.
This genius, that is, I, greatly reduced the time spent on these puzzles.
The black platforms were the most deadly and difficult. There was only one monster to fight, but it was at a much higher level than those on the orange platforms. At least this time I felt involved in the battle, which made it easier to pass this test. I was still trying to figure out how to activate the god step, and although I could already use the explosive step, I still couldn't make much progress in obtaining the GodRune.
I was extremely close, but something was missing. I had already told Arthur how to obtain this rune, and the two of us began trying to reproduce it.
Arthur Leywin POV
Despite what awaited us on each platform, our ascent became easier—no, that's not true; each platform was even more difficult than the previous one. It's just that we were getting stronger.
However, the biggest change was Regis. My black mutt, he hated being called that, was no longer the cannon fodder he used to be. Although he still couldn't use the purple flame of the aether, his speed, strength, razor-sharp teeth and claws still made him a force of destruction. The only downside to this transformation was that he was now much more physical than before, which meant he was susceptible to injury.
His body didn't bleed, but since it was made entirely of ether, receiving too severe a wound meant he needed more aether... my aether.
"When we get out of here, remind me to get you in shape," I snorted, leaning on the black railing of the platform. "Even a sixteen-year-old kid who's never held a weapon before progresses ten times faster, and you have some memories."
"Go to hell, don't compare me to that monster," Regis barked, his discontent ringing in my head. "I'm still getting used to this form. This is my first time having real limbs, you know?"
"Well, at the moment, you're more of a hindrance to my aether fund than an asset in battle," I remarked with a smirk.
Regis chose to remain silent, due to a lack of excuses and witty responses.
He understood that too. It was too dangerous to use the Gauntlet Form, now enhanced with purple flames of destruction, because of its strong effect on my psyche, and the monsters that appeared on these platforms were too strong for him to properly adapt to his newfound power and form.
The three-headed snake began to dissolve back into the ground as usual.
I expected to see the familiar staircase leading to the next platform, but instead of a platform at the top of the translucent staircase, a portal awaited me. Looking at the shimmering gate of iridescent light, I felt as if I had collapsed into an oasis in an endless desert.
"Well, it had to happen sooner or later, as if something was holding us here," said Lucius, stretching his body. The terrible wounds on his body healed quickly, as he had been the one fighting on the black platform for the last ten times because he wanted to progress even faster.
But how much faster? By my standards, he was already a master with a dagger, because when we sparred with daggers, we often ended up with a score of about 8 to 2 (2 defeats from Arthur, 8 victories from Lucius) out of ten fights. Although there was a complete reversal with swords, and now he was losing to me 7 to 3, he only beat me three times out of ten, but even so, I was amazed at how quickly he was progressing.
Daggers, swords, hand-to-hand combat, and spears were what we competed with most often. I had a first life where I honed my skills for decades, then in this world I trained with the Asuras in the aether sphere, and yet Lucius seemed to devour my knowledge, absorbing everything at such a speed that it seemed unreal.
"I think this is it..." I rushed up the stairs with reckless abandon, wanting nothing more than to escape this hellish purple void. But at the last moment, I stopped and waited for the aether connection with Lucius, and then we moved.
I thought that whatever we would encounter on the other side would be better than being here. However, what awaited us made me doubt those thoughts.
It wasn't the ominous crimson sky shining overhead that disturbed me. It wasn't the hordes of various monsters approaching us. It was the twelve or so people fighting them... and especially the three Alacryans we had met in the very first room of this dungeon.
My gaze immediately darted to Lucius, who simply sheathed his blade and drew it again a second later.
"They may demand it back," he said, twirling the dagger. "I don't want to give up a heavily upgraded dagger, but the original can easily be returned."
Meeting my gaze, he sighed. "Yes, yes, I'll send you some bits of information during the battle. Let's go." Spinning the dagger, he flashed incredibly quickly toward the strange monsters.
× × × × ×
I've already written up to the point where Arthur and Lucius meet Uncle Alaric, and that's why I decided to post this chapter today.
I usually post every three or two days, but since I'm in a good mood, I decided to...
If you throw in twenty Power Stones, I'll post another chapter tomorrow, and maybe the next day if I get another twenty Power Stones.