Chapter 279 - Three Options (Patreon)

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 131]

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 143]

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 163]

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 138]

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 169]

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 171]

…

I watch as all of the monsters die one after another, each with their heart pierced by a small mana orb boosted with kinetic energy.

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 159]

[Lvl 215 > Lvl 216]

The leveling is getting slower, and these monsters do not cut it. Should I go and try to hunt the Veil Guardian? The asshole is most likely close to 300, but with some planning and a few well-placed traps, I should be able to kill him.

There is only one problem with that.

My disciple walks into the room from behind my back, and with her tiny feet, she kicks one of the corpses.

She looks up at me, “I also want to be strong enough to do that.”

“As I said, there is one word the ancient half-demon used to say after every sentence, getting respect from…”

“I'm not going to say that word!”

Tsk, my opinion on lynthari is going down and down.

Turning more serious, I return her gaze, and even though she is trying to act mad, I see that she is partially liking this kind of teasing.

Damn you, system, just how bad did she have it before to be happy because of that.

“Minion, it's time to decide.”

“I'm not a minion, I'm a disciple.”

I continue, “This is something that is up to you, and I want you to consider it very seriously, so listen carefully.”

When I sit down on the ground and gesture at her to do the same, she plops on the floor after cleaning it a bit from the dust. She really is protective to not dirty her new clothes.

Surrounded by corpses and in the underground room deep under one of the skyscrapers, I finally get out of myself what I wanted to for a while. I have had this silly disciple for around 5 days, and a bit over two weeks remain, so it's time I asked it.

“There are multiple ways we can go about your training,” I lift one of my fingers, “First, we can continue what we are doing now. Some leveling, some hunting, and when the time is ready, you will return to your world much stronger than when you came, and with some nice memories.”

She moves her light brown hair off her face, and her deep red eyes are glued to me.

“Second, we will be much more aggressive. You will sleep a bit less, we will hunt more, and I will force you to train more and expect more of you. You will be tired, and I will let you get hurt.”

The mood turns more serious.

“Third and last, I will put you in danger, and at times you will risk your life. It will hurt, you will sleep less, and I will become much harsher. With this option, you will leave this place the strongest, but the memories you take back with you will be full of pain, and blood, and there is a chance that you will hate me in the end.”

Gradually, I let my words die away, and the silence ensues, interrupted only by the eerie sounds of a quiet room.

The little half-demon opens her mouth to say something, but I jump into her words, “Think carefully because when you pick one of the options, I won't change my mind later.”

I know it's a hard decision to make for someone so young, but I trust that she can decide for herself. Meanwhile, I believe that I will finish this floor well no matter which one she picks. At the same time, there is also curiosity about what she will pick.

"What would master pick if you were at my place?"

"Third," I answer without hesitation.

“Third,” her answer is the same. Just a single word and a determined expression.

"You can think about it longer if you want to."

"I don't have to."

“Okay.”

My disciple is currently level fifteen, so I release a level 20 Veilshrieker, and my disciple jumps to her feet at the same moment the monster rushes her.

The first attack throws her against the wall, a painful groan escaping her. The second attack barely misses her head, and the third attack of the monster painfully bruises her shoulder and cracks the wall behind her. Before the fourth attack, she glances at me.

And I just continue to sit there, as always practicing Mana Cycling and observing the fight.

The fourth attack draws blood and she rolls on the ground, the new clothes I bought for her getting dirty and torn. Only then does the expression on her face change. It becomes more distant, and she grabs the dagger, lowering her stance and moving her foot in the way I showed her.

When the monster charges at her, she waits, changing the hold of the dagger in her hand. The little girl and the monster crash against each other, an attack of the monster landing because she wanted it to land.

And then my disciple shows me the wildness she gained from the place where she came from. The anger she kept hidden and controlled the entire time we spent together.

The dagger keeps moving down, stabbing the monster as she takes on some of the weaker attacks on purpose only so she can continue to attack.

All while her red eyes seem to glow with a similar hate to that of the monster.

When she is thrown away, she rolls a few times to escape the range of the monster, and then jumps back on her feet. Her mana moves through her body, and without hesitation, she charges again, dodging and stabbing.

With a last hateful screech, the monster finally dies and falls down with a dagger stabbed inside its neck.

Hand bloodied, body bruised, and with a wild look in her eyes, my disciple turns to me. She is breathing heavily, about to fall down after an intense fight, yet there she stands.

So, I release another monster from my [Redistribution].

For that short moment, shock flashes across her face. Then there is a short moment of fear and anger.

When the monster gets closer, all of this disappears, replaced by a weirdly calm expression on her face. I can sense her heartbeat through the kinetic energy I can observe, and it speeds up.

Her hand stops shaking and she falls to the ground, rolling and using the corpse of the monster she just killed to block a few attacks from the monster I just released.

While the Veilshrieker continues to bite and scratch the corpse that blocks its way towards my disciple, she pulls the dagger from its neck, more blood landing on her new clothes.

With a scream, she attacks.

The exchange that follows takes even longer than before. She is slowing down, her mana is dropping lower, and the wounds on her body start to appear more often, yet even now she wins.

Falling to her knees, she turns towards me, looking for acknowledgement. The dagger drops from her hands and her chest moves heavily up and down.

She smiles at me proudly.

I lift my hand and show her three fingers, "You picked the third option." At the same time, I release the third monster.

Even though the pain in her eyes, she reaches and grabs the dagger again. Because of fingers slippery from blood, it takes her two attempts, but she soon holds it and immediately rolls behind, barely avoiding an attack from the monster that passes by.

My disciple, with her sheer will, pushes herself back on her feet, and for a moment rage is seen in her red eyes. Her demon part showing.

That rage is not pointed at the monster, no, the cause of that is me.

Before the monster can launch its offensive, she attacks.

***

“What's wrong with you!” the granny screams at me and rushes to take my disciple from my arms and starts healing her immediately.

The moment she does so, the little half-demon's face becomes less pale, and even her breathing calms down.

“She lost so much blood and she barely has any mana inside her body, and why is she so pummeled!” the granny continues to complain.

“A little bit of training,” I say.

“Training? TRAINING!? Are you sane?” she screams.

I didn't expect her to show such emotion. I guess she is someone who is weak against hurt kids, and that's also why she helped before. Well, I'm sure my disciple would be fine even without healing; the problem is that it would take a bit of time for her to get back into form. If I use the granny, I can have her train more.

To cut off the stream of curses directed at me, I take out one of my bags and put it on the table, “For your current and future healing of my disciple,” I say simply.

“What a goddamn asshole you are, do you think…” Even though she is saying that she opens the bag and peeks inside, and that makes her words stop as if cut off.

She looks between me and the bag and then starts putting the contents out.

Multiple bottles of water, plenty of food, a small bar of chocolate candy, a few smaller mana stones, and lastly an upper rare item - a cape that allows the creation of a realistic, but illusory image of its wearer that lasts according to how much mana is used. The illusion even duplicates the mana signature and heat, smell, and such things. Out of the rare upper items, it's one of the better ones, even though situational.

“Do we have a deal?”

“We have a deal,” she says, still annoyed.

We leave the cottage on the rooftop an hour later, and my disciple is following me on her feet. Her last fight gained her a level and even more levels in her skills.

After a few hours, we find an empty place inside one of the fallen skyscrapers, and I put traps all around as well as anchors to be used when needed. Surrounded by a few thermal orbs, I sit down to eat a bit of food.

Unlike before, my disciple doesn't move to me, putting pieces of cloth in front of us. No, for the first time after a few days, she doesn't ask me to have food with her and instead does everything she can to avoid my eyes.

After dinner, I put a tiny mana stone in front of her with a new set of inscriptions. This one is trying to replicate an effect similar to [Oscillation], and even without being asked, she immediately grabs it and starts her attempts. A minute later, her posture becomes less awkward as she forgets about me and her attention is all put on the puzzle in front of her.

Hearing the sound of rain, I leave an anchor near her, and with constant monitoring, I leave the room, heading towards one of the rooms with windows outside.

When I reach it, the sound intensifies, the sound of rain constantly drumming on the stone and the road below. The rain is beautiful, and under the sky full of dark clouds, droplets filled with light blue mana shine. A myriad of shining blue droplets of water light up the dark day. It reminds me of a mana rain during the first floor, but this one doesn't seem to be that deadly as it doesn't damage the building or the vegetation outside.

Curious, I put my hand outside, and immediately a dozen or so raindrops hit it and pierce through my skin. Falling on the grass, they do not damage it at all.

I pull my hand back, and for a moment I observe it while the blood flows through it, my hand pierced with a dozen holes that go through the entire arm

Well, it was silly to expect the tutorial to have normal rain.

I generate some thermal energy and send it through my body, healing my hand nearly immediately.

Then I pick up the transmitter from my pocket, (Darren, so where did you say you are?)

It takes only a few seconds to get an answer.

(Oh, the guy with Owen's transmitter. Darren is sleeping. I'm Nina.)

(Hello Nina, does the offer still stand?)

(Sure, here is the location. We can specify the exact time of the meeting later. See you soon.)

Nina is less talkative than Darren, so when she describes the location to me, the connection cuts off.

Well, it's time to start working on side quests and find out what this floor is about.

***

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