MM - Chapter 274 - HOPELESS

Instead of answering Pamalaiha with more empty words, Raine rose to his feet, gaze sweeping across the whole group. “Come with me.”

The sand-strewn arena was left behind for the coliseum's outer lobby. The core members of Astra Infernum eyed each other with varying degrees of dread. It took their combined efforts, everything they had, and more than they realized they were capable of, to get him to take one measly step. What was next? How much worse would it be? Still, they scrambled to follow.

The polished marble floors and dim, arcane lighting were jarring after nearly three days of nothing but sand and ruddy walls. Raine was already at the nearest rental kiosk. His fingers danced, accessing the second specialized training space he’d rented. They were drawn inside without consent.

They appeared upon a slate-grey stone platform, suspended above a void of oppressive heat. They approached the edge, looking down to confirm the horrid suspicion in their guts. Groans echoed between them as their new hell was revealed—a chasm of churning magma. Bubbles the size of boulders rose to the surface, bursting with wet, guttural pops that sprayed molten rock into the superheated air.

Fifty meters away, a twin platform hovered over the same chasm.

“No way,” TwistedReligion muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead before the heat had even truly set in. “I swear I just had this nightmare.”

Raine snorted, looking forward to what was coming. His first time in this very space was now a fond memory he couldn’t wait to share. “Don't be so dramatic. This is only the first stage.” A tapped command into his floating interface caused the space to groan as it reconfigured.

A long balance beam, no wider than a man’s foot, extended over the fiery pit, connecting the two platforms. Walls shot up from the magma on either side, creating a claustrophobic tunnel that ran the length of the crossing. The stone surfaces were marred by suspicious holes and vertical slits that ran parallel from ceiling to floor.

The sound of Raine’s palms rubbing together failed to instill a sense of comfort. “I didn't reset your attributes, so you have the strength and speed of gods. Avoiding a few traps while walking in a straight line is nothing. Even a toddler could cross this with a little practice.” A predatory grin was revealed when he turned to face them. “So, who’s going first?”

Mel, Celeste, and Pamalaiha shook their heads vehemently, eyes fixed on the horizon with studious intensity. The men didn’t miss the sign and stepped back in unison.

Raine rolled his eyes. “Cowards. Fine, I have a little motivation for you.” A stack of leather-bound tomes appeared atop his outstretched hand. Each book was etched with gentle lines and scribbles—arrays that were unmistakable to anyone who had seen them before—Skill Books. “The first to cross gets all six of their skill books up front. The rest of you will have to earn them, two for each stage cleared.”

Deloralicious leaned toward Kevinsbakon, her voice at a stage whisper. “Notice how he didn’t say the first to ‘try’? Sus as hell.”

“Are you at least going to show us the skills first?” Richtor asked, eyeing the books while licking heat-cracked lips.

“Nope,” Raine popped the 'p' sound. “They’re from a level 45 Nightmare dungeon. Mastering them will turn your class quests from impossible to manageable. That should be enough to get your asses in gear.”

Rhino stepped forward with fists clenched. He rolled his shoulders, popping the joints. “I got this.” The allure of Nightmare-tier loot was less a driving force than the need to prove himself to his older peers. He alighted on the beam with the grace one would expect of a budding martial.

For the first thirty meters, Rhino was a machine. As expected, arrows hissed from the holes in the walls, invisible in their speed, but loud before exiting. He twisted and dipped, letting the projectiles sail past to shatter against the stone and fall into the magma. Spinning axes shot from the vertical slits, whipping with rapid whooshes before slipping into the slits on the opposite walls. Despite the growing number of attacks, he managed to time each step perfectly, making steady progress.

“He’s actually doing it,” Kevinsbakon murmured, almost sounding disappointed.

Just before the end, an independent, foot-long section of the wood spun violently beneath the foot he’d just placed for support. Rhino tried to adjust, shifting his weight back, but he overcorrected, forcing an extra step. The section under his newly placed rear foot spun in the opposite direction. 

His arms flew wide for balance. Physics took over. Rhino’s legs went up while his torso went down. He grasped for the beam, but it spun again. He fell. Raine felt the boy’s intent form. His call for Connection to thicken the air for a Lunge was denied. The air remained thin and yielding. That was the moment his sheer scream began. It ended abruptly as he plunged into the magma.

The bubbling goop did not treat him kindly. It was thick, viscous stuff that clung to skin and armor alike. Rhino breached the surface a moment later, taking a thousand damage a second. He thrashed and kicked toward the wall, but his avatar was already dissolving, skin sloughing away to reveal blackened bone. He died screaming, sinking back beneath the molten surface just as his hand brushed the wall.

Silence reigned on the platform until Rhino reappeared in a flash of light behind them, still screaming. He sank to his knees, shaking fingers spread wide before his eyes.

Raine clapped his hands, causing more than a few to jerk in surprise. “Excellent demonstration of what not to do, Rhino. Who’s next?”

Pamalaiha took a confident step toward the beam, jaw set in a grim line. She strictly did not look at the spot where Rhino had fallen, eyes remaining fixed on the far platform. She chose an entirely separate strategy and took off down the beam in an all-out sprint. Arrows were ducked or jumped without breaking stride; she pirouetted through the gaps between hurtling axes, and when she reached the final rotating sections, she didn’t try to balance. She turned her feet sideways and slid. The spinning sections moved too quickly to overcome her momentum and grip her soft leather boots.

She arrived at the end with an over-the-shoulder roll, coming up in a sliding crouch.

Rhino glared across the chasm at her back. “Watched me fail, then stole my strategy. I see how it is.”

In a blink, Raine appeared on the platform next to her. He retrieved the stack of books from his inventory again, linking each one to the group before handing them over. “Good job.”

[Double Slash: (Skill book - Common Grey) The next attack delivered with any slashing weapon summons a phantom slash that deals 60% damage (Cost: 6 Discipline) (Cooldown: 4 seconds)]

[Parry: (Skill book - Common Grey) Nullify the damage and redirect the force of one incoming physical attack (Cost: 6 Discipline) (Cooldown: 4 seconds)]

[Impale: (Skill book - Common Grey - Level 25) Thrust in a straight line with any piercing weapon, releasing a phantom spear that deals 250% weapon damage to all entities in a 10-meter line (Cost: 15 Discipline) (Cooldown: 3 seconds)]

[Repulse: (Skill book - Common Grey - Level 25) The next intercepted physical attack is countered with 300% Force (Cost: 15 Discipline) (Cooldown: 5 seconds)]

[Eclipse: (Skill book - Lustrous Blue - Rogue Restricted - Level 35) Enter the Ethereal Realm for 1 second. Upon returning, channel the ethereal into your next piercing attack, dealing 600% bonus soul damage (Cost: 20 Discipline) (Cooldown: 45 seconds)]

[Heart Sap: (Skill book - Lustrous Blue - Rogue Restricted - Level 45) Your next critical hit within 3 seconds converts 60% of the damage dealt into Discipline and Health, split equally (No cost) (Cooldown: 15 seconds)]

Pamalaiha stood proud, receiving the books with reverence. “Thank you, Master,” she whispered, soft enough that only he caught it.

Raine let her little rebellion pass without comment; she’d earned it. His voice carried to the whole group as if nothing had happened. “These basic skill books will go a long way toward rounding out your class, but they’re only the foundation. Have you all settled on your Unique Skill yet?”

Pamalaiha nodded sharply. “Yes.”

“Good. Use the arena’s skill training rooms to practice, on your own time.” He traded her five gold, more than enough to learn the basics and raise her completion rates to the bare minimum. Since he wasn’t done gathering the gear, he chose not to start handing it out yet. The skill books would have to be enough motivation for now.

The two of them teleported back to the starting platform. Raine’s demanding growl rumbled in their ears. “Get moving already! The lava isn’t going to get any cooler by staring at it.”

* * *

While the core group threw themselves into the fires of the obstacle course, Raine departed to the Ravine of Blood, to his own grind. For the next several hours, he was an instrument of controlled slaughter. He fell to the dungeon’s floor fifty-one times, dedicating each repetition to a single one of his stolen martial stances. 

He took great pleasure in unlocking the hidden secrets tucked into their movements. Because they had wielded a variety of weapons against him, there was more to learn than he could possibly unpack in only a few hours. Blood, feathers, and loot fell around him without end. His mind, entirely focused on optimization, barely took note of it all. He wasn’t in a rush, making full use of every second to deepen his understanding. 

The loot piled up in his inventory—stacks of Marvelous Gold equipment, more of the same skill books, and crafting materials. He earned a fortune that any small guild would go to war over. Yet, to the likes of the Phoenix Clan, it was nothing special. They could achieve the same with only a few hundred members. They had millions. That thought alone lit the fire within him. No matter how fast he personally progressed, thousands upon thousands of guild members were required to make his goals a reality.

That was why training the core group was so vital. When he was done with them, they would understand how to train the freshly recruited independents. Those that stuck around would train the next generation, and so on it would go, a rising wave, growing until it was vast enough to draw the tide back for kilometers. The Phoenix Clan and its peers—the clans that ruled all of Earth—could have their moment. There was not a trace of doubt in Raine’s heart that the tsunami of Astra Infernum would someday sweep them all into the depths of hell.

After washing the blood from his armor in the ravine’s sole stream, he returned to Silverlight, ready to start the previous night’s training all over again.

* * *

Hours later, back in the arena, the core group stood in a weary circle around him. They were an emotional mess. After working so hard to beat him the previous night, having to face him with full use of both hands and feet seemed impossible. He wasn’t even armed, yet they couldn’t come close to landing a solid hit, let alone knocking him off balance.

“Sit with me,” Raine called for an unexpected break, sitting cross-legged on the sand. They collapsed into a semi-circle, gazes holding the desperation he wanted to see. “You’re failing.” The simple statement served as the slap he intended. “How many times do I have to show you before it sinks in?” Clenched fists and downcast, shame-filled eyes were the only responses a martial could give to such a statement, especially when they knew how true it was.

Mel was the only one to meet his gaze. Her desire was no less than the others, though, for someone who had never even considered being a martial only a few short weeks ago, she lacked the same common knowledge the others had cultivated. “I don’t get it. What are we… What am I doing wrong? I’m not wasting as much motion anymore. I’m faster. And, I can see your attacks clearly; I just can’t get out of the way in time. How are you still so much faster than me? Are our attributes really the same?”

Raine battled the desire to shake his head. She can see my attacks clearly? Monster. Taking ReGen has changed her so much; all three of them. Once again, he was reminded of how careful he needed to be in allowing who took the miracle elixir.

“That’s the ‘something’ I was talking about—twitch responses.” Raine supplied. “Victory isn’t decided by what skill or martial stance you use. It’s decided in the instant between moments, when there is no time, when your body has to respond without being told what to do. The harder you try to control every little movement, the slower you’ll be. You have to let go and allow instinct to take over. So, stop trying so hard to control yourself, and start controlling yourself!”

Kevinsbakon nudged Deloralicious, leaning closer to her ear. “I swear I’ve heard that line before. Do you recognize it?”

She hissed, scooting away. “If you want a beating, ask for it without dragging me along. I’m trying to learn how not to die here.”

Raine stood, dusting off his butt. “That’s enough of a break.”

“Wait! What you said doesn’t make any sense.” Richtor didn’t rise. He looked up, pleading with his older brother, who at that moment felt too wise for someone only two years his senior. “The instinct on how to move is learned over a lifetime of growing up. With our attributes now… it's all messed up. The twitch response that should help me balance sends me flying. How are we supposed to use instinct that we don’t have?”

Raine nodded, the side of his mouth lifting in a pleased smile. “Normally, I would say you just need to practice until you get it.” His hands rose in a helpless shrug. “We don’t have time for that. So, when practice isn’t enough, when training isn’t enough, when there’s no time, and the world is about to come crashing down on your shoulders, what’s the solution? How can you keep pushing forward, despite knowing it's hopeless?”

Cobalt blue eyes pierced straight to Fizgore’s soul. He froze, yet couldn’t help but whisper the answer: “Desperation.”

Knuckles wrapped in the Soul Flames of Amanesh came together with a deafening boom. Heat and shattered air pressure washed over them. “Good. I’m glad you understand. Now come.”