novelraw Chapter 140: Enlightenment Pagoda
Chapter 140: Enlightenment Pagoda
Zyrus returned to the exit stairway in a pleasant mood. Meeting Navrino was an unexpected surprise. After he read the compact chip that the squirrel had given him, he found out that it was related to research done by the OSIRIS group.
He could read and interpret the information thanks to the cube, but that was about it. The cube was able to make items as the need arose. Nonetheless, relying solely on it to make a whole production line was impractical.
Zyrus couldn’t just spend all of his time on using the blueprints to make the items whose purpose and effect were unknown. Leaving it to someone else was out of the question. This left him with the only option where he had to find someone who could understand the blueprints and related data and then apply it to the sanctuary.
Finding someone among Earth’s players who could use the chip was easy; the difficult part was the latter. How were they going to use the items and system in the sanctuary to bring this project to fruition?
‘Finding Elder souls who are neutral is the best way, and from what I’ve observed, Navrino should have deep knowledge regarding mechanics.’
Zyrus also thought about the next task: The Enlightenment pagoda.
It was a place unique to this map. Just as the name suggested, it was a place that increased the chances of getting enlightenment, or in other words, skill improvement.
Now that the initial conquest of the ocean was complete, Zyrus had decided to spend the next few years on his personal development. The middle islands were perfect for the army to train and improve their levels. In the meantime, he would be comprehending concepts and completing the cube’s mission.
*Ding*Ding*Ding*
The bell rang thrice and suppressed all sounds in the colosseum. It was three in the morning, and all fights had concluded for now. The same thing would happen for the next three days before 24 teams were selected to go into the next part of the champions of Munera.
[I hope that everyone enjoyed the brave performance put on by the participants]
Anansi’s voice echoed around the players, and at the same time, a new mini-map appeared before them.
[What you see in front of you is the map of the city below. General areas such as the lodging, taverns, auction house and such are marked, but that’s not all of it. It would depend on your capabilities to discover the hidden perks of the city]
The administrator lifted his fedora, and as if a switch had been flipped, the stairways extended from the colosseum and reached before the gates of the city. While others were busy marveling at the magical craft, Zyrus was already close to the ground.
***
The marble floored streets of the city became filled with players in no time. Despite it being the wee hours of the morning, the city was sparkling like a jewel.
The fountains and sculptures at every intersection gave the place a lavish vibe. The air was clean and fresh due to numerous trees that sprawled across the whole city. All in all it was similar to the city of ruin, albeit on a smaller scale. There were no high rise buildings except for the Auction house, a Hotel, and the Enlightenment Pagoda.
It was no surprise that the players would flock to these areas first. The auction house and the hotel were self-explanatory, so it was the last building that garnered the largest crowd. At this time, Zyrus had already reached the reception hall of the Enlightenment Pagoda. He was a good few minutes ahead of everyone else.
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“Dear guest, the enlightenment pagoda has a total of nine floors. The main function of this establishment is to help you in gaining new skills or improving existing ones. Since this is your first time here, you can only go to the first floor.” The elf receptionist at the desk greeted Zyrus and introduced the facility.
Zyrus didn’t even wait for her to explain and handed her three gold coins. This was the exorbitant price needed to train on the first floor of the pagoda.
The silver haired elf blinked her eyes but didn’t ask anymore questions, seeing that the guest was aware of the rules, she gave him a wooden medallion and stated that the time limit is twelve hours.
Zyrus thanked the lady and rushed to the stairs. Gold wasn’t the only requirement to use this pagoda. After 81 people went up to the first floor, no one else would be able to enter even if they paid with a mountain of gold. With each floor those who could go up would decrease by 9.
‘And to go up a floor, one must either upgrade the stage of their skill or get a new one at the corresponding rank.’
This information was only made public after a few champions of munera had passed. Since Zyrus had the information advantage, there was no way he was going to miss any opportunity to get stronger.
Zyrus climbed the short stairway and soon, in front of him lay a stone door engraved with the shapes of a Dragon, Phoenix, Snake headed turtle, and a Tiger. The markings on his wooden medallion were a miniature version of them. He pressed the medallion on the door, and with a Clack, the stone gave way for him to pass through.
*Shwaaa*
A dense mass of mana seeped into every pore of his being. The sensation was incredibly comforting and nourishing for the body. Those who had fought in the arena would value this place even more since they could train and recover at the same time. It was without a doubt the best place to lay down their foundation.
Zyrus looked around at the scenic posters and sat down on a random mat. There were 81 of them in total, but it didn’t make the place crowded at all. With more than thirty feet distance between each mat the pagoda provided sufficient privacy and mana concentration for everyone.
He had already informed Kyle and the rest to come here as soon as possible, so without further ado he began with the task at hand. With a simple thought the current list of his active and passive skills appeared before his reptilian eyes.
[Eye of Annihilation (B, Stage 5)]
[Vector Throw (D, Stage 2)]
[Arcane Lance (B, Stage 2)]
[Master of Sojutsu (C+)]
[Spear Aura (C)]
[Xisheng Arts (B-, Stage 1)]
[Avatar (A-, Stage 2)]
[Fear (A)]
[Vortex Manipulation (A)]
Three skills were at the B grade and three on the A grade. This was without a doubt among the top of the current players. Two more of his skills were on C rank, while Vector throw being the worst at D.
‘I’ll start with vector throw since its just a step away from ranking up,’
[Vector Throw (D, Stage 2)]
Effects: When attacking a target in the range of 35 to 125 meters, deal 150% additional damage.
When used while running, there is a 13% chance to create mana projection, dealing 50% of the original damage.
Armor Penetration: 15%.
Mana Penetration: 10%
The skill was great at dealing damage, if not the best skill he had when it came to single target damage. The problem was that Zyrus didn’t use it as often due to him having the thirteen curses of void. None except the bosses required him to go one on one. Even then, he preferred to be on the frontlines since being a hundred feet away from the boss would place his teammates in danger.
The skill that was very useful at the start of the first ring had now become somewhat of an occasional attack. The fact that it consumed javelins was also an important factor. Considering how tough the boss monsters were, there was no chance to recover the thrown weapons unless they were of a high quality.
‘Then again, it’s not like it doesn’t have its advantages.’
Zyrus closed his eyes and began thinking about the means he had devised to improve his skills. One by one the scenic posters around the pagoda began to gleam with mana and created an isolated field. At this moment, Zyrus could sense neither the mat below him nor the ceiling above.
‘This is…the power of concepts!’
[Eye of Annihilation]
A red hue appeared in Zyrus’s wide-open eyes. He could barely make out the hundreds of strings entangling him in a wide sphere. Each string represented a new concept. They were faint and almost ethereal, but he believed that the higher he went the more consolidated they would become.
It would be impossible to comprehend the concept even if he stayed here for the whole event, but still, it allowed him to see the directions in which he wanted to develop the skills. The eyes of annihilation once again proved their worth as he was able to single out the threads he didn’t want to focus on.