Chương 233: Act 3, Chapter 83: The changing room chat

Day in the story: 29th January (Thursday), after midnight Elle Erikson Behind the steel gate underneath the Ideworld's Eiffel Tower, we found an unexpected place made of concrete and rebar. It reminded me of a concrete jungle, but more structured. It was a room no bigger than twelve square meters and no higher than two and a half. The walls looked as though they had suffered years of damage and decay, with piles of rubble and small pebbles gathered along them, especially in the corners. There were two desks inside.

One already looked like scrap, with two legs broken off. The other served as a makeshift tactics table, some form of old map pinned to it with two serrated knives. There were no windows, and the only light came from electrical lamps that looked seconds away from giving up entirely. At the front stood a steel vault door, shut tight.

"A bunker was not what I expected," Patricia said, her eyes following the line running from the doors behind us, along the ceiling, all the way to the larger doors ahead. She looked like some fantastical cross between a soldier, a knight, and a mage. Her Kevlar armor was padded with carefully curated leather scraps and a few rubies that formed a strange web connected by optical fibers running underneath the entire set.

I was very curious how it all worked and what exactly it provided her with, but one thing was obvious. Despite being a seer, she was clearly combat-oriented.

"This is the entrance to the splinter. You can keep your belongings here up until midnight on February fourth. We will enter shortly before then and wait for you unless we notice you need help earlier."

"We won't," Piotr said. He dropped his coat to reveal his usual baseball Jersey, underneath.

"The entire splinter is monitored by a camera system that allows us to see how well, or how badly, you are doing," the man escorting us continued.

"If we decide you need help, we will go inside and pull you out. The current record set by a mage-level team is eighty-seven hours and twenty-one minutes."

"Mage level?" I whispered to Lia, who stood closest to me. I covered my mouth so I would not disturb the presentation.

"That means anyone below High Mage and Archmage. High Mages are people with access to at least four soulmarks, so a Domain that expanded four times up to its fifth stage, the Refinement. Archmages are people with access to five soulmarks, which means the Ascendance level, the seventh tier of a Domain." She whispered back while taking off her coat. Underneath, she wore a very tight suit that hugged her slender body perfectly. It was black, gray, and dark green and looked more like camouflage than sportswear.

It covered her breasts, then narrowed into a single strip running down the front over her navel, with a similar line covering her spine at the back. The bottom half covered her body down to her knees. The rest of her skin remained exposed, showcasing an intricate web of white lines of tattoos. She was barefoot as well. A belt crossed diagonally from her shoulder to her waist, holding a few small pouches, but besides that she carried nothing. Kito, her brother, wore only trunks with a similar pattern.

His entire body remained exposed, displaying beautiful tribal tattoos almost everywhere except his forearms and neck.

"Thank you," I whispered back.

"The clock in here," the man said, pointing at the electronic display mounted above the vault doors, "will show the timer once it starts, but our mages connected it to the numbers visible in the sky at all times while inside, so you can track time properly. The competition ends when you reach the top of the tower and kill whatever dwells there. We stop the clock then."

"Questions?" asked the second man who had entered with us.

"I have two." Bastien raised his hand. He wore rather loose clothing, though I knew he also had some form of armor underneath. Mounted on both his forearms were matching contraptions that looked like armored cameras with built-in displays. Two thick optical fiber cables ran from them alongside his arms before disappearing into his sleeves.

"Go ahead, this is not a school."

"When will the clock start, and who holds the record?" The eyes focused on Bastien turned toward the man expected to answer. I took interest too, despite not knowing any names among the mages here.

"As soon as you open the door, the numbers start going up, though of course they are limited by the time left on your reservation." Our guide walked toward the table with the map after glancing at the clock for barely a heartbeat. Then he pressed both hands against the wood, turned toward one of the knives pinning the map down, and pulled it free.

"Unfortunately, this happened two weeks ago and was done by a team of foreigners on their way to the Catacombs."

"Foreigners? Who was it?" Bastien asked.

"De Ville let them in here and in there!?"

"Son, mind your language. That's first." The man furrowed his brows and pointed the knife at Laurent. Kito tensed instantly. So did Milo, who grabbed the bat with his left hand and squeezed.

"Secondly, they were allowed because we wanted to see if they were really as good as the world claims they are. They were all Einherjar."

"After Ragnarök?" Kito asked.

"There would not bear the scars if they were not."

"Who's—." I began whispering to poor Lia, who stood closest to me, but he grunted softly to let me know it was not the right moment.

"Eighty-seven hours. Just under four days," Piotr said.

"We can do better than them. How many were there?" He planted the butt of his bat against the floor and leaned on it with the full weight of his massive, barrel-shaped body.

"There were three of them, and they only did it because they heard Bohema offers rewards for beating the record. They went into the Catacombs soon after collecting them, hoping to face the legend of their long-lost forefather. Their words, not mine."

"What was the record they broke?" I asked.

"The one set fifteen years ago. One hundred and twenty-three hours." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"What!?" Patricia shouted.

"They beat a score that stood undefeated for over a decade by a day and a half? That's ridiculous."

"I heard the ones who survive Ragnarök are already at least Harmonization tier," Kito said.

"That's the fourth level," Lia whispered into my ear.

"It goes like this: Awakening is first, the basic level of a Domain that was just created or one you just gained access to. Then, in order: Focus, Expansion, Harmonization, Refinement, Fusion, Ascendance, Transcendence, Command, and Apex at the very top." That meant I was currently at the Expansion phase, and it definitely showed in how my Domain evolved to reflect that. Refinement marked the level of a High Mage, while Ascendance opened the path toward becoming an Archmage and granted access to five soulmarks.

"Their scars are really something," the man replied.

"Like fissures in reality carved straight through their souls, constantly leaking shadowlight out of them. Never seen anything like it in my life."

"Whatever," Piotr said.

"You'll tell stories about us to the next groups. The ones who beat the Einherjar."

"I wish both you and us that success. If there are no further questions, we are heading out." We all shook our heads in response, while Bastien answered with a verbal no, and we watched the men who brought us here leave. Once they were gone, our entire team turned back toward the door leading out and the display mounted above it.

"Why are those Einherjar scarred? What's going on with that?" I asked.

"Almost every Einheri belongs to an old and ancient clan, each cultivating a different Domain, so their skills are heavily researched and well known within those families. They pass that knowledge down to each new generation of warriors. Once they reach the proper age, decided by their elders, they undergo special training and a rite of passage in the Nexus on Iceland called Ragnarök, where they fight against overwhelming odds."

Patricia explained while pulling a helmet from her backpack and unlatching the straps holding its two halves together.

"Those deemed worthy are found by Valkyries at the edge of heroic death," she continued.

"The winged women take them into the halls of Valhalla within the Nexus, heal them, strengthen their bodies, and once they are ready, they drive their spears straight through the mage's soul, leaving behind a permanent scar in their spiritual matrix." She placed the helmet over her face. Her long hair spilled freely from beneath it, but the rest of her head became enclosed in an oblong mask with no visible openings to see through.

There was only a single sapphire crystal embedded where her forehead should have been.

"They become Soulriven, and that fissure constantly leaks shadowlight out of them, so there is no hiding among the awakened, whether you are Einheri or not. Everyone around you can see it because you become a walking source of light all the time."

"And those scars that emit shadowlight also tend to carry traces of their Authority with them, even without consent," Liana added while stretching her slender legs.

"Their powers randomly influence the world around them simply because they are nearby."

"I heard about one clan so elusive they gained the ability to phase through solid matter," Piotr added.

"They use it to rip the spines out of living opponents. Savage as fuck."

"We are no worse than any of them. I believe that deep in my heart," Kito's voice echoed off the walls.

"We too can achieve greatness."

"Of course," Piotr supported him.

"So, are we going in there or not?"

"I'm ready," Patricia said.

"Same," Lia confirmed. Bastien nodded slowly, while Kito looked at me, still wrapped in my long coat.

"You are going in there like that? I thought you had some protective gear, right?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied.

"I just got lost in thought hearing about all those new things." I took off my trousers, revealing the tight white powersuit underneath. Then I pulled my Power-Bunny running shoes from the bag and swapped them with the pair I had on. After that, I removed the coat entirely, revealing the new version of the Usagi armor I had been modifying in my spare time. It was aptly renamed Kumosagi—Spiderbunny. It had been repainted white and the chest emblem removed.

My gloves were repainted too, each finger now looking like a spider's leg extending all the way to my elbows. Gone was the laser, too expensive in Authority cost, along with the reactors that powered it. The rotos in the palms remained since they'd help propel both me or my paper creations forward. A small pouch was strapped to my right thigh, holding my summoning book, while a larger belt around my waist where Ella was hooked.

"Woah!" Patricia shouted.

"Damn," Piotr added as well, openly checking me out from the soles of my feet to the top of my head, where I had just pulled up the hood with its mechanical rabbit ears and spider eyes marked with the crevice of the Shattered.

"That looks fantastic," Lia said.

"Though I do not see any crystals." She continued circling around me. Through the eyes on the hood, already filled with Authority, I noticed her glance briefly at my bottom.

"Does it actually do anything? Is it a pure Ideworld artifact?"

"It does do a few things, and no, it's not an artifact. It was made by a friend who specializes in thread and fabric magic, then enhanced by another who holds power over artistic concepts."

"So no artificer's work. Pure Authority woven directly into the costume itself," Patricia said.

"May I touch you?" I nodded, and she extended her hand. I felt a scrying Authority reaching toward me, similar to the one Maya used to sense the world around her. I allowed it in.

"Interesting! Identity magic at work here. This thing is made to believe it's what it represents in the creator's mind."

"Spot on. It lets me cling to surfaces like a spider, hear better because of the ears, smell better because of the nose." I rolled the mask up to show the teeth and the bear nose painted on it.

"See around myself, jump higher, hit harder, use propellers in my palms." I opened them to show the painted mechanisms.

"And produce silk from the openings in the center of the hands and near my collarbones. Similar to spider silk, but stronger." All courtesy of the fact that the suit existed as a three-dimensional object and therefore used the world itself as its medium.

"It was tailor-made for you?"

"Literally," I answered.

"Fits like a glove too. So yes, I'm ready as well. I'd prefer though if you'd share some things about the gear you guys are using. I listened to you talk about your tactics and magic, but no I am clueless about your equipment."

"I carry some first-aid supplies, along with specially made pills and potions to help during combat. My suit was designed to support me in battle by enhancing my strength and durability. The helmet I'm wearing is completely translucent from the inside and doesn't obscure my vision at all despite offering excellent protection. It also lets me focus and enhance my sight, so I can see distant things somewhat better." Patricia began, making a slow turn while speaking so I could properly examine the equipment she wore.

"Me and my brother wear artifacts. Those outfits were taken directly from within our Domain, where they are woven from the silk of special silkworms living there and then properly painted. Afterward they are infused with beeswax, which makes them especially durable and extends their protection across our entire bodies despite how scant they appear," Lia explained while Kito simply nodded in agreement.

"It has to be that way because of our bloodline gift that you already know about." They had explained it briefly during one of our preparation sessions. Some people have their biology altered, much like those Shadows touched by the Change, because of something that happened to their ancestors long ago. Their family possessed crevices beneath the folds of their skin where insects could live and feed on sugars produced naturally by their bodies.

"I also wear a tiara fitted with crystals that allows me to sense any insects inside my aura."

"I have my bat. It's fucking metal as fuck," Milo explained.

"That's all."

"And I have armor similar to Patricia's," Bastien finally chimed in. His eyes kept darting from me to Lia over and over again.

"It makes me stronger and more durable. But I also have those cameras mounted on my arms that let me take quick and precise pictures. They include touchscreens with editing tools built into them, so I can apply changes on the spot, plus pretty solid hard drives that let me access other photos whenever I need them. And on top of that, it's all supported by my own Authority, so there's no need for batteries."

"Fuck this. We're going in," Milo said. He strode to the door, grabbed the vault's valve, and turned it until the entire mechanism clicked into place.

"We've got Nazis to kill. And trust me when I say this—as a Pole, settling that score is in my blood." His entire body covered itself with a thin film of shadowlight in the color of blood rubies, with just few streaks of electric white.