In the end, we rested for over two days, one of us sleeping while the other took watch. After those two days, I feel much better. I even sacrifice some shards to buy food and water, which I share with Myrra. When she starts asking too many questions about where it comes from, the system interferes, and from then on, she acts like it's normal.

Such a display of control by the system over natives is disturbing, but knowing there's nothing I can do, I try to ignore it.

I look towards the small crater where the First One died. I don't know what I expected, but I feel empty.

It's not like I can say revenge isn't worth it. Not at all. That bitch had to go down. It's just that the joy I felt for killing him is slowly diminishing, and I know in a few days he will become just a memory. An enemy dealt with, a step on my way towards wherever this all leads me. Just a fake, the only proof of his existence, the empty hole left by Hadwin.

While Myrra sleeps, I sell the skill upgrade token after examining all the options for upgrading my skills. I make sure to remember the most useful ones as it helps me understand my skills and what should be possible. Even then, I follow the plan I made long ago and decide not to upgrade any of my skills.

Do you really want to sell the following item for 5000 shards?

Skill upgrade token

Yes/No

I confirm, and my shards increase. Thinking back on the skill upgrade token I sold last time, I only got 2500 shards, and this time I received 5000, meaning there is most likely a rarity to skill upgrade tokens as well.

After trying for a while, I confirm that I can't claim my rewards for clearing this Floor's main quest, I will likely need to enter the 5th floor to receive them.

Floor quest:

Destroy one of the 4 Calamities

Rewards:

Epic Passive skill

Skill upgrade token

Shards

stat points

Access to other Communities

More shards, access to other communities, and mainly an epic passive skill. Then there’s the matter of the 9000 shards I already have. I could buy another passive if I wanted to, or I could wait for the 5th floor or maybe wait for the rest of group 4 to deal with another Calamity.

They received a confirmation for clearing this quest even though they weren't here, likely indicating that floor rewards will be received by the whole party even if only a single member clears the quest. And knowing the system, all such rewards will only be distributed once we reach the next floor.

So yeah, let's wait and buy ourselves a juicy epic passive. Thinking about it, I may receive 2 epic passives on the 5th floor, so that's really something.

My increased level is now over 200, a new trait, my plans for improving the kinetic mana heart, another round of active tempering, and enchanting experiments with black mana. There is so much to do as always, but I like it. Things like this are good at taking my mind off useless stuff.

“Thinking again?” Myrra stretches, her tail twitching as she does so.

We are currently, in the massive crater the crash made, we’ve set up a tarp over the area, creating a nice shady patch in the middle of this desert.

I already ditched my warmer clothes for a more comfortable set and at times I even absorb heat from my skin and release it to cool off. At some point, I even split my mind with [Focus] using a portion to keep it running constantly. There are no enemies, no monsters, nothing, so I can handle the mana expenditure quite easily.

We’ve found ourselves at the edge of the desert where the fallen hero wanders, from what Myrra has told me.

“You are doing it again,” the tall lynthari complains.

“And what will you do about it?” I shoot back.

Myrra blinks a few times. “You used to be so cute back when I first met you. So careful and shy,” she shakes her head.

“That was long ago. ” I get up on my feet. “Ready to examine the base?”

She answers in the affirmative and quickly stands up. Being a lynthari, she gets bored quite easily, especially without anything interesting happening.

“Looking at the materials, I suspect that the orbital base, parts of Virelia, and many of the tunnels the colony took over were made by a lynthari Champion or their Absolute.” Her hand slides across the surface of the base as we enter through the ruined section.

The material is extremely durable and it took falling about a hundred miles from orbit and crashing into the earth to even damage it.

“Someone probably had a skill related to creating and manipulating stone. Look at it, it's all made from the same material,” I offer as

Myrra lights up our surroundings, “Or they could convert normal materials.”If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

The base is tilted, and some of the tunnels have collapsed as we delve deeper inside, looking for traps that could have been left behind by the previous owners and the First One.

At least it’s cooler here than it was outside, so we take it slowly, examining the rooms and tunnels, looking for anything useful. But like the orbital base: It's empty, the rooms cleared of nearly everything. There are no mana stones bearing messages and no personal belongings. Just long tunnels and empty rooms.

The only worthwhile parts about it are the inscriptions I get to examine, marking some down onto cheaper mana stones. Myrra finds another pillar, which she activates making use of her lynthari heritage and starts searching for anything useful.

What she does find are mere tidbits of information, most of the useful data has been cleared, either by the previous owner before leaving the base or the system, and we learn next to nothing from it.

Myrra can somewhat control the base, but to make it run as before would require skills neither of us possess to repair it.

The most useful thing we get from all of this is a map of arrays. The old ones from the war, which have mostly been destroyed, and the newer ones the base's scan found when Myrra was looking for remains of the Colony.

We give it a few more days in hopes of finding anything useful, but in the end, we give up and head towards the closest array.

I have a strong suspicion that Myrra has figured something out, but she is trying to hide it and her behavior is off.

For now, I decide to let it be and observe a bit longer.

And so we travel through the dunes, either running or flying when we get bored. We are surrounded by a never-ending field of golden dunes that look exotic and nice at first, but the repetitive view becomes stale after a few days. The weather is too hot for my liking as well, but Myrra seems to be enjoying it. Her ears twitch and her tail sways as she seems to absorb the heat with an expression of joy.

“I won’t return to Virelia,” she says to me as we stop for a short break.

The sun shines on her as she clamps her eyes shut. Her white hair shining especially bright.

“Please don’t ask, I have my reasons and I will tell you sooner or later. Is that ok with you?” The determination in her voice is clear.

I see no problem in agreeing, and respond, “Sure.”

She opens her eyes and looks at me, same as I've been watching her and a subtle smile graces her lips.

The two of us really are alike in many ways, aren't we? It’s kind of nice because it prevents conflict. Kind of. But it’s also annoying because she seems to understand what I'm thinking, and I'm not used to that.

We reach the array and spend some time digging it out from under tonnes of sand and then I have to spend more time fixing it. All while the white-haired lynthari sunbathes nearby with her eyes constantly on me.

“Freeloader,” I snap at her.

“I've heard worse,” she answers, unbothered, and turns her face towards the sun.

While pushing my mana into the array and checking it for any leaks, I open the community. Beyond Community is still working, even though the system turned off the others.

Gareth - I'm sorry to hear that, Sset! I hope it will get better for you guys. As for your question, Maximilian and Jakub can still access the Hell community, as well as other groups, so it's most likely only you.

Savant - You guys probably killed the Calamity, right? That's why your Community got blocked. And us being able to talk means that you decided to stay and haven’t entered the 5th floor yet.

Gareth - Oh, you are smart as always, Savant!

Sset - Yes, we did. I see no reason to keep it a secret.

Gareth - Our group hasn't even started yet! We are still in Virelia, and everyone seems to be having fun with the guild and enjoying some rest. Meanwhile, we’ve done some information gathering and been trying to get to know some of the lynthari and guild masters.

Sset - Gareth, do more of you plan to enter Beyond?

Gareth - A few wanted to, but I convinced them to change their mind. Most of us have already used upgrade tokens too.

Savant - So nice of you. It's easier to control your group if you are the strongest, right?

Gareth - Yes.

Savant - How unexpected of you to admit it so easily.

Gareth - I'm their leader, so it's my responsibility to choose the way. Risking their life in Beyond is not something they need to do. Just me going through it is fine, my friend.

Sset - What if they want to?

Gareth - If they decide to do so, I will help and will work hard to prepare them. That much is expected of me, of course. But they trust my decision.

Savant - Disgusting.

Sset - They might end up being too reliant on you.

Gareth - Sset, from the way you talk I can tell that you are still very young, so allow me to explain. It's not bad that they rely on me, it's not wrong to look for someone to lean on in these situations. It's even to be expected.

With interest, I watch the conversation, forgetting about my mana flowing through the array.

Gareth - I have decided to take on this responsibility and be that person for them. I will protect them as much as I can, and we will cooperate so all of us can improve, together. So that we not only survive but get through this with people we can rely on.

Noname - What if they die? What will you do then?

Gareth - First, I'm sorry for your loss, Noname, I heard a lot of good things about Hadwin from Jakub. I'm sure he will be missed by a lot of people. And to answer your question, we would grieve and prevent it from happening again. Death is something to be expected under these conditions, but not something we take lightly.

Noname - What if you die?

Gareth - I am really strong. I won't die, and will do my best to not let any of them die under my watch, and I will make sure they are prepared for the case I'm not around.

Noname - You are wrong.

Gareth - I'm neither wrong nor right, my friend. The same goes for you.

I look away from the window, thinking about what Gareth said. There are some things I like about it and some I really don't.

But in the end, he still feels suspect to me, and I'm more inclined to Savant's opinion that Gareth just wants to be strong enough to control his group, and this is just a mask.

As I'm about to close the window I notice one more message.

Sset - Grumpy entered Beyond's first trial.