Chương 18: The Nexus

A feeling of pride welled in Ray's chest. From an early age, he had been slowly suppressing that emotion. If he didn't have any ego his self-confidence would be a non-issue. It was simple. That was over with. At least he wanted it to be. Something about the way Chronos didn't even consider him lit a fire in his heart. Ray was used to being underestimated, even outright being told he couldn't do something, but he could definitely grow stronger. He already had.

Something deep inside Ray screamed at him to go harder, to put his all into his path to power. It was like a part of him had lain dormant for all of his life, only for it to now come rushing forth. Ray stood and put on his battlegear. The System notified him of multiple different connection attempts from the people he expected to see. His team was presumably worried for him and Burgen had already been his handler in Ray's eyes. The man was obviously put in charge of keeping an eye on him.

The surprising thing was each of his attribute tutors had contacted him as well. Clive, Gunther and even Rize had tried to reach out. Ray decided to handle the interactions with each person as they arose, no need to respond to each one via the System. That would just be weird and tedious. He decided his time would be best spent getting stronger right away, and the best way to do that was by advancing to Phase 2. It felt like he only just reached Stage 1 and got his new Essence, but that wouldn't stop him.

If the past few days taught him anything, it was he needed to keep up the momentum to not be left behind. Ray decided to use the Stonemite Queen core and the other regular cores he had to advance. Saving the Killworm's core just felt like the right move. The absorption was the same as before and when he had absorbed the last Beast Core a System message popped up.

[Soul Core saturation: 20%] [User has reached requirements for Phase: 2] [Advancement will begin now] Ray felt his Mana Ways surge as his Soul Core began to siphon mana from seemingly nowhere. A wave of adrenaline pulsed throughout his body and his eyes glowed brighter with the green of the System. The feeling was over quickly, followed by his status page appearing before him.

[User: Raymond Foley, Stage: 1 Phase: 2] [Attributes: Strength: 168 Agility: 197 Intelligence: 152 Mana: 100%] [Soul Core saturation: 20%] [Absorbed Essence: 3/7] [Title: Recruit] [Abilities: Bolt, Mud Wall, Fungal Cloak] [Tech: Mana Circuit, Coalescence] Ray had to admit he felt pleased with his current status page. The higher numbers were satisfying, but they didn't erase what had happened in the cavern. He had advanced because they survived, not because the fight had gone well.

Frangle, Phora, Jerome, and Kiara had all nearly been killed. Getting stronger only mattered if the next time ended with more than everyone barely making it out. Agility had reached nearly 200. This only proved that Clive was right about his natural talent for it. His other attributes weren't far behind. Others would see far less improvement in their non-chosen attributes but also would be much closer to 250 in their specialized attribute at this point. All in all, Ray was making good strides in generalizing.

- Frangle was worried sick about Ray. He had been denied permission to visit his Captain, even when Jerome had said he was allowed. It had been well over the 72-hour mark in which people normally awaken from Mana Overcharge. Frangle was sure Ray had to have woken up by now. This posed many questions but the most important one still rang in his mind.

'How did he do that?' Frangle had deemed his Captain to be immensely talented but now things had reached a concerning point. If Ray was capable of defeating a Stage 3 Beast in only the 1st Stage, what use did he have for a team? That would derail Frangle's entire plan. Not that Ray didn't seem like a nice guy and even somewhat of a friend to Frangle. The large teen was just aware of their dynamic. Frangle was grasping tightly to the coattails of the top-rising Recruit. The rest of the team was all royalty.

Frangle even found out Kiara was the sole daughter of the Vale family. The strongest family of Light Mana users in the Light Mana capital of the Empire. That made 3 literal heirs as Ray's teammates, with Frangle a random addition. He couldn't fall behind. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. So, instead of worrying over Ray and sitting around like the others, he trained.

It had been nearly 3 days since their return and Frangle had been training nonstop. With the reward from the mission, he was able to purchase his next Essence, and the Beast Cores he collected had put him on the cusp of the second Phase. Now, with 3 Abilities and his Strength attribute reaching well over 200, Frangle felt very powerful. Not as powerful as he needed to be, though. If he wanted to keep up with Ray, Frangle would have to work even harder.

This was the thought in his mind while he was in the training room. The lights had gone blue and the System indicated that Gravity Mana had been used to increase the gravity. This was common Strength training done by most people stationed at the base, so seeing others enter and exit the room was normal. What surprised him was the lean frame of the most recent occupant. It was a black-haired, green-eyed teen, no older than 18 years old.

His battlegear was form-fitting like Agility gear but also had thick metal plates like Strength gear. As he entered the room, his stride visibly slowed as the Gravity Mana took hold. No sign of discomfort was seen on his face as a black cloak materialized around his upper body.

'Ray?' Frangle thought.

'He's awake?' Ray walked to the center of the room and began to perform basic calisthenics. His Fungal Cloak made it appear as if he was a dancing phantom. Frangle observed his Captain and was enamored with the fluidity of his movements. It seemed he had perfectly honed the control over his body. The workout lasted for nearly 20 minutes, all of which Frangle stood and watched. Once he was finished, Ray stood and stretched his body, surveying the room while doing so.

His eyes seemed to lock on to Frangle and a smile appeared on his face. The black-haired teen lightly jogged over to the standing Frangle, waving his arm happily before speaking.

"Hey, buddy," Ray said.

"Want to help me train?" For a second, Frangle only stared at him. He had spent days wondering whether someone capable of killing a Stage 3 Beast would eventually leave the rest of them behind. Ray was standing there asking for his help like the answer should have been obvious. The knot in Frangle's chest loosened before he could stop it. Frangle showed visible excitement as he led Ray to a specific complex of the GLMB. Once posed with the idea of training together, Frangle got a wonderful idea.

Since their team had finished their first mission, they had gained access to a ton of things around the base. No longer would they have to use common rooms for training, or accept any random mission. The program was structured to give the Recruits as much freedom during the 1st and 2nd Stage as possible. This meant they would be undertaking missions at their own pace and be allotted access to some of the GLMB's highest-level resources. One of which Frangle was currently taking Ray to see.

The large teen gave a horrible explanation but Ray managed to get a general understanding of where they were headed. Essentially, Frangle was going to introduce Ray to the internet of this world. Ray was familiar with how the internet operated here but had only used it sparingly during his time in the Outer Ring. He knew it was an expensive privilege and that some people in the Inner Ring spent their entire lives online.

Apparently, Virtual Reality was the most common way to access the internet and here at the base was no exception. Frangle explained that every System user would gain access to a specific online portal. This portal would take them to a place called the Nexus. The Nexus was a world created for the System by its users. It could be accessed through the System at any time, allowing users from all over the world to meet regardless of their physical location.

Once inside, their consciousness was transferred into an avatar that resembled their physical body. From there, they could walk through the Nexus as if they were actually there, interacting with other users, visiting shops, and exploring the various districts that made up the world. The Nexus was primarily used for socializing and training. The training areas allowed users to fight one another or battle System-generated enemies without risking their lives in the real world.

There were also countless places where users could simply meet, talk or relax between missions. Despite being a virtual world, the Nexus wasn't something users could simply exploit to gain an advantage in reality. Anything that happened inside remained inside. One couldn't increase their attributes with the training done in the Nexus but it would still help them to flesh out their fighting style. Practice makes perfect.

Injuries could be simulated, but they wouldn't carry over to the user's physical body, and death simply resulted in the user's avatar being respawned back at the entrance of whatever facility they were in. Frangle also mentioned that Recruits had special restrictions in the Nexus. Recruits would be given a separate area to train amongst themselves, being able to go into the larger world of the Nexus once they had proven themselves. This meant battles.

The Recruits were to essentially battle it out for the top spots on a leaderboard. These top spots would garner them access to the main Nexus. The main Nexus would offer a larger variety of amenities and allow for the Recruits to learn from more experienced System users. Ray understood the process once he put it into terms from his old world. They were to enter into a Virtual Reality where they were essentially players in a video game.

The video game would mimic their actual Abilities and attributes, meaning in order to progress in the game, one would have to become stronger in real life. The further they progressed in the game, the more things they would have access to. Frangle wasn't sure exactly what would be so helpful in a fake reality but assured Ray that the other 3 members of the team were convinced it would be worth the trouble. If each of the heirs thought it was worth it, it most likely was.

Ray and Frangle arrived at a complex that had dozens of VR stations. Each one was essentially a large chair with a helmet hanging from the ceiling above them. The chairs were oval-shaped, causing one to nearly lie down if seated correctly. The helmets reminded Ray of the fighter pilots' helmets he had seen in movies. After sitting in the VR station and donning the helmet, Ray found his consciousness fading as he felt a small prick in the back of his upper neck.

It was slow at first, but then, all at once, he found his vision warping, and he felt like he was being pulled through an unseen space. Opening his eyes, Ray found himself in an all-white room. Well, he would call it a room but it seemed to go on forever. Not a wall in sight. Just a dense white fog beyond his immediate vision. A System message appeared and Ray was actually surprised by the contents. [User: Raymond Foley has entered the Nexus] [Would User like to initiate anonymous mode?]'Anonymous mode?'

Ray thought.

'I guess that would be helpful.' Ray willed the System to accept and he was then prompted to select an alias for his avatar. He decided rather quickly and a figure materialized before him. The figure wore battlegear similar to his but a large hood was pulled over its head. The only discernible feature was the green glow of their eyes. A System message appeared asking if this appearance was acceptable. Ray agreed and suddenly his surroundings began to warp.

After a moment, his vision stabilized and he found himself in a large corridor. There were dozens of other people in the corridor; each was grouped up along one of the long walls. The corridor was mostly empty other than a large platform in the middle. The platform was placed underneath a giant screen that displayed two figures in an intense battle. A banner was displayed in the corner of the screen, stating the names of the two combatants.

[User: Gilian Mcvay (Stage: 1) VS User: Phora Striker (Stage: 1)] A smile appeared on his face as Ray watched his teammate send a lightning javelin hurtling towards her opponent. Gilian was currently mid-air and had no way of dodging. The battle ended with a wave of white light following an explosion of golden lightning. [Winner! User: Phora Striker (Stage: 1)]