u201dTapi sebenarnya ini cuma mana mentah saja ya?u201d tanya Carmen sambil masih belum sepenuhnya percaya pada klaim Jake. u201dEnggan terasa seperti mana sih.u201d
u201dMana arcanum mentah,u201d koreksi Jake. u201dBarier stabil, yang dimaksud.u201d
u201dHmm, yang tajam terasa hampir sama seperti yang meledaku2026 walau mungkin yang meledak terasa agak lebih agresif?u201d renung Carmen pelan-pelan.
u201dMemang lebih agresif, lho. Itulah sebabnya mereka pengen meledak,u201d Jake menyeringai sinis sambil menolehkan kepalanya untuk melihat Carmen yang sedang telentang dengan tangannya di bawah bantal, memandang plafon di atas.
Mereka berdua sedang berada di tempat tinggal Carmen di Nevermore City, di salah satu kediaman pribadi yang khusus untuk anggota atas. Sebagai seseorang yang berhasil hadir pada pertemuan bagi mereka yang berhasil di Leaderboards, Carmen memang otomatis dilihat sebagai anggota utama. Meskipun begitu, meskipun ia gagal, fakta saja ia seorang Runemaiden Valdemar sudah cukup untuk mendapatkan status itu.
Pertempuran mereka di arena sempat berlanjut beberapa menit lagi, tapi pada akhirnya tidak ada banyak progres dari kedua belah pihak. Jake bisa menyebabkan sedikit kerusakan di sana-sini, tapi Carmen sudah cukup baik dalam mengobati luka. Pada waktu yang sama, Carmen tidak bisa memberikan pukulan yang bagus kepada Jake. Menentukan pemenang berarti harus terus bermain sampai salah satu kehabiran sumber daya, dan walaupun Jake yakin penonton akan menikmatinya, Jake dan Carmen enggan melakukannya.
Tanpa kemampuan, sumber daya mereka akan bertahan berjam-jam, dan siapa yang punya waktu untuk itu? Tentu saja, mereka bisa beralih ke penggunaan kemampuan, tapi sparring di arena memang bukan pertarungan sebenarni, dan jika Jake jujur, ia tidak ingin memamerkan kemampuannya di depan sejumlah orang.
Setelah pertarungan, mereka secara alami cukup tergoyang dan memutuskan untuk ke tempat Carmen untuk u201cmbatau catatanu201d dan u201cmencerminkan pertarungan mereka.u201d Yang memang memang benar-benar dilakukan. Kenapa punya lainnya, saat ini mereka berdua sedang telentang tanpa pakai pakaian di tempat tidur?
u201dMungkin aku juga harus dapatkan afinis arcanum,u201d gumam Carmen. u201dBiasanya, dua orang yang aku kenal punya afinis itu, yaitu kamu dan Eronu2026 ya, selain dewa-dewa dan sebagainya.u201d
u201dAfinis arcanum tidak selalu lebih baik,u201d Jake menyeringkan bahu. u201dTerlihat seperti itu karena afinis itu secara alami cocok dengan orang yang membuatnya sangat baik. Lihat saja Sylphie; dia hanya punya u201dafinis dasar anginu201d, dan aku pasti tidak akan menye-nyliskan itu lemah.u201d
u201dKayaknya dia punya lebih dari sekadar angin dasar. Aku pernah dengar sesuatu tentang Sylphs yang menjadi hal, dan aku yakin dia terkait dengan itu,u201d Carren mengomentari.
u201dTetap saja angin,u201d Jake mengangunkan kepalanya saat duduk. u201dMungkin sedikit di-empower dan berwarna tertentu, tapi tetap sihir angin.u201d
u201dHmm, benar juga,u201d mengakui Carmen sambil tengok dalam.
u201dNgobrol serius, aku penasaran sama daya tahan level kamu, gimana sih rasanya u201d, Jake berkata sambil condong ke depan dan menekan lengan Carmen. u201dRasanya seperti kulit manusia biasa yang lembut, tapi rasanya seperti menyerang logam saat aku memukul.u201d
Carmen tidak membalas komentar tentang tekannya saat ia juga duduk. u201dKayaknya campuran antara bereaksi terhadap yang dianggap serangan dan bukan serangan, plusu2026 nama kamu lagi? System-fuckery? Ya, itulah.u201d
u201dHah. Terima kasih teh system-fuckery. Aku asumsikan ini juga sebabnya kamu bisa bergerak normal meskipun kulitmu tebal dan kokoh? Aku berasumsi kurang fleksibel secara default.u201d
u201dMungkin,u201d Carmen setuju setengah-setengah sambil membuka dan menutup tinjuku. u201dBoleh juga. Dulu aku sangat hati-hati saat berkelah, pasti tidak boleh terima kenaikan. Sekarang, aku bisa mendapat pukulan berkali-kali tanpa kesulitan sambil memberikan kebalikan,u201d grimisnya.
u201dItu membuatku bertanyau2026 hal Runemaiden ini juga menguatkan organ-organ kamu, ya?u201d tanya Jake dengan penasaran.
u201dYa, semua,u201d Jake menjawab sambil tersenyum. u201dBiasanya sebagian lebih terpengaruh daripada yang lain. Tulang dan kulit lebih dari yang lain. Jadi tip: jika kamu perlu membunuh Runemaiden lain, tembak matanya. Itu mungkin kelemahan terbesar kita.u201d
u201dTerima kasih atas tipnya, tapi aku lebih tertarik: seberapa banyak kamu ter nerf dalam spar kecil kita? Aku ingat kamu pakai banyak kemampuan boosting yang memberikan beban berat pada tubuhmu, dan ini pasti jauh lebih kuat, ya?u201d
u201dKamu pasti bisa merasakan kemampuanku yang jauh lebih baik,u201d Jake tersenyum lebar. u201dBiasanya aku tidak akan berpikir kamu bisa menang. Ya, mungkin kemampuan boosting-mu lebih baik, tapi aku tidak yakin itu bisa memungkinkanmu menyerang dengan efektif. Selain itu, kamu juga akan memiliki ofensi yang lebih kuat, dan walaupun aku tebal, aku tidak kebal. Pakai kemampuan boosting berlebihan juga merusak daya tahan-mu; kudengar sama, beberapa kali di Nevermore.u201d
u201dAku mengerti,u201d Jake mengangguk. u201dCarmen? Apakah ada yang salah dengan membagikan detail soal Runemaiden seperti ini?u201d
u201dSiapa peduli? Valdemar pasti tidak terlihat seperti orang yang akan melakukannya,u201d Carren mengangguk dengan santai sebelum berubah serius. u201dDia memang serius ingin kamu bergabung ke Valhal, btw. Gudrun juga setuju, dan setelah penempatan kamu di Leaderboards, aku ragu ada yang berani protes.u201d
u201dAku tahu dia tertarik,u201d Jake hanya tersenyum, tidak menyentuh topik itu lebih jauh. Meskipun ia mempercayai Carmen, ia tidak akan membagikan detail tentang hubungan sebenarnya dengan Malefic Viper. Semakin sedikit orang yang tahu tentang statusnya sebagai Heretic-Chosen, lebih baik.
u201dPribadiu2026 aku tidak benar-benar pikir kamu harus bergabung,u201d Carmen berkata setelah beberapa detik.
u201dHuh?u201d Jake terkejut.
u201dRencana hal ini. Jika kamu bergabung, kamu mungkin akan diberi sebagai Chosen Valdemar, atau setidaknya posisi lebih tinggi dariku, yang akan membuatnya sangat tidak nyaman. Dan lagiu2026 aku tidak ingin kompetisi,u201d grimisnya sambil tersenyum pada akhirnya.
u201dKamu ingin menjadi Chosen Valdemar?u201d Jake bertanya.
u201dPasti. Aku perlu melakukannya jika ingin bersaing dengan kalian semua monster lainnyau2026 serius, kenapa segala orang terkuat di generasi ini dari Bumi?u201d
u201dEngga tau,u201d Jake tersenyum sambil mengagokan kepalanya, setidaknya senang tahu ada orang lain yang merasakan hal yang sama.
u201dEmang aneh,u201d Carmen mendesah.
Kedua-duanya diam sejenak. Setelah beberapa saat, Jake mengambil cakram yang diberikan oleh Demon Prince, memutuskan untuk membacanya. Carmen melihatnya mengeluarkannya, Jake sudah menjelaskan kepadanya sebelumnya bahwa ia akan menghabiskan beberapa hari di komplek Valhal, sebagian untuk mempelajari cakram ini.
Seolah-olah tidak ingin mengganggunya, Carmen berpakaian dan keluar ke courtyard tempat tinggal pribadinya untuk latihan. Jake penasaran dan memutuskan untuk melihat cara ia berlatar sebelum sepenuhnya tertarik dalam cakram.
Ia melihatnya duduk di tengah area terbuka sambil menutup mata dan mengambil napas dalam-dalam. Kemudian matanya terbuka tajam saat ia menyerang ke depan, diikuti oleh beberapa tendangan ke udara. Ia bergerak tidak jauh lebih cepat dari manusia pra-sistem saat ia boxing dengan penyeberang yang tak terlihat, bahkan melarikan diri dan mengelak oleh pukulan yang tak terlihat. Setelah sekitar satu menit, Jake menyadari sesuatu. Cara ia bergerak, mengelak, menyerangu2026 mirip dengan saat kita bersaing. Bukan pada gerakan umumnya, tapi seluruh alur geraknya dikenal.
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Ia sedang berlatih shadowboxing melawan versi dariku? Jake bertanya sambil memandang lebih lama. Bahkan dari dalam bangunan, ia bisa merasakan energi aneh di sekitar Carmen dan fokusnya yang intens dan tak terputus saat ia sepenuhnya tenggelam dalam pertarungan bayangan. Beberapa konsep kuat juga terlibat, dan Jake bahkan merasakan sedikit energi dari tanah di bawahnya. Dengan pemeriksaan lebih teliti, ia menyadari lingkaran sihir besar yang menyelimuti seluruh kompleks Valhal seolah merespons, sebagiannya aktif, sepertinya memfasilitasi dan membantu latihan seperti ini.
Memang benar ini pangkalan terbaik untuk penggemar pertarungan, Jake berpikir sambil tersenyum. Dengan hal-hal seperti ini dan archery range, mungkin Jake seharusnya coba bergabung ke Valhal sebagai anggota honor. Atau setidaknya, blackmail Villy untuk memberinya barang-barang keren seperti archery range.
Jake benar-benar ingin archery range itu.
Jake hanya memandang sebentar lebih lama sebelum memutuskan waktunya untuk fokus pada hal-halnya sendiri. Mendalami cakram, Jake mulai mempelajari Ritual yang diusulkan oleh Demon Prince, dan kesannya adalahu2026 cukup akrab?u201d Ia memiliki banyak aspek konseptual yang sama dengan beberapa ritual yang pernah dilakukannya, tapi juga banyak yang baru, dan lebih kompleks dibandingkan sebelumnya. Selain ritual yang membantu melahirkan Vesperia, yang ritualnya membutuhkan beberapa tahap dan sebagainya, sementara ritual ini akan satu kali selesai.
Ia juga melihat bahwa ia tidak akan melakukan ini sendirian. Beberapa demon-level C akan membantu, tapi Jake akan menjadi pelaku utama. Dirinya yang mengontrol semuanya. Cukup mirip dengan ritual yang ia lakukan bersama Mystie dan Hawkie untuk menetas Sylphie. Ritual ini akan membutuhkan orang lain untuk melakukan lebih banyak dibanding Hawkie dan Jake dulu, tapi semuanya akan menjadi kebijaksanaan Jake.
Sebenarnya, Jake mulai mengerti, Jake mulai mengerti sebabnya Demon Prince meminta bantuan darinya. Ritual ini tidak untuk dilakukan oleh C-grade, apalagi C-grade mid-tier. Di samping itu, berdasarkan analisis Jake, orang yang melakukan ritual harus berada dalam sekitar setengah lusin level dari Demon Prince, atau tidak akan bekerja karena perbedaan kualitas. Setiap grade adalah lompatan besar, tapi setiap level dalam setiap grade juga adalah langkah kecil, dan seseorang di atas tangga tidak akan mendapatkan hasil bagus.
Ditambah dengan kebutuhan ekstrem dari master ritual u2014 orang yang bertanggung jawabu2014 Jake bisa melhat betapa sulitnya menemukan seseorang yang memenuhi syarat. Juga, sangat mudah dilihat, terutama ketika Demon Prince juga mempertimbangkan identitas Jake sebagai Harbinger of Primeval Origins, Jake terlihat seperti pilihan terbaik di multiversa. Dan walaupun proses menciptakan makhluk seperti Vesperia jauh lebih sederhana dibandingkan yang kebanyakan orang anggap, ia tetap tidak mudah.
Dengan semua pemikiran ini, satu pertanyaan mutlak terakhir: apakah Jake yakin bisa melaksanakan ritual yang diusulkan?
Ya, ia akan memberi setidaknya lima puluh-50. Pasti lebih sulit dari apa pun yang pernah ia lakukan, tapi Jake juga sudah tumbuh jauh lebih kuat sejak terakhir kali ia melakukan ritual
”But it’s actually just pure mana?” Carmen asked, still not entirely believing Jake’s claims. ”Definitely didn’t feel like mana.”
”Pure arcane mana,” Jake corrected her. ”The stable variant, that is.”
”Hm, the stabby ones did feel borderline identical to the exploding ones… though the exploding ones maybe felt a bit more aggressive in nature?” she pondered aloud.
”They are definitely more aggressive, hence why they wanna explode,” Jake smiled teasingly as he turned his head and looked at Carmen, who was lying with her hands behind her pillow, staring at the ceiling.
The two of them were currently at Carmen’s place in Nevermore City, inside one of the private residences available only to top members. As someone who had been able to attend the get-together for those who did well on the Leaderboards, Carmen was naturally viewed as a top member. Then again, even if she had done horribly, the mere fact she was a Runemaiden of Valdemar was already enough to get her this designation.
Their duel in the arena had gone on for a few more minutes, but ultimately, there was little progress on either side. Jake could do some minor damage here and there, but Carmen was self-healing quite well. At the same time, Carmen couldn’t land any good hits on Jake. Finding a winner would have required them to keep going until one of them ran out of resources, and while Jake didn’t doubt the crowd would have enjoyed that, Jake and Carmen couldn’t be bothered.
Without any skills, their resources would have lasted for hours, and who really had the time for that? Sure, they could have switched over to using skills, but the arena spar wasn’t a real fight, and if Jake was being honest, he didn’t want to reveal his skills in front of a crowd.
After their fight, they had naturally both been a bit worked up and decided to go to Carmen’s place to ”compare notes” and ”reflect on their battle.” Which was definitely what they did. Definitely. Why else would they now both be lying naked in the bed?
”Maybe I should also work on getting an arcane affinity,” Carmen muttered. ”Then again, the only two people I know with one are you and Eron… well, besides the gods and stuff.”
”It isn’t like arcane affinities are necessarily better either,” Jake shrugged. ”They just seem like that because the affinity naturally fits the person who made it extremely well. Look at Sylphie; she just has the ”basic” wind affinity, and I sure as hell wouldn’t call that weak.”
”Pretty sure she has more than just basic wind. I heard something about Sylphs being a thing, and I’m pretty sure she’s related to those,” Carmen pointed out.
”Still just wind affinity,” Jake shook his head as he sat up. ”Maybe empowered a bit and of a certain flavor, but it’s still wind magic.”
”Hm, I guess you’re right,” Carmen relented as she looked deep in thought.
”Honestly, I’m more curious as to how exactly your level of durability even makes sense,” Jake said as he leaned over and poked her arm. ”Feels and looks like soft human skin, but it felt like striking metal whenever I hit it.”
Carmen didn’t even comment on his pokes as she also sat up. ”I guess it’s a mix between reacting to what is considered attacks and not attacks mixed with… what did you call it again? System-fuckery? Yeah, that thing.”
”Huh. Well, thank fuck for system-fuckery, then. I assume this is also why you can move normally despite your durability and tough skin? I would assume it to be less flexible by default.”
”Probably,” Carmen semi-agreed as she opened and closed a fist. ”It’s pretty sweet, though. I used to be really careful when fighting, and I had to make sure not to take any hits… now, I can take quite a beating without much struggle while giving plenty more back.”
”That actually got me thinking… this Runemaiden stuff also empowered your internals, right?” Jake asked curiously.
”Yep, it’s all-around,” she said with a grin. ”Though some parts are more affected than others. My bones and skin more than anything else. So, pro-tip: if you ever need to kill another Runemaiden, aim for the eyes. That’s probably our biggest weakness.”
”Thanks for the tip, but I was more thinking: how nerfed were you in our little spar? I remember you using a lot of boosting skills that took a heavy load on your body, and these must be a fuckload more powerful now, right?”
”You bet my boosting skills are a fuckload better now,” Carmen grinned. ”But I’m not gonna act like I would have had an advantage with boosting skills. Sure, mine may have been better than yours, but I’m not confident they would have allowed me to land anything decisive. Besides, you would also have way stronger offenses if that happened, and while I’m tough, I’m not invincible. Using boosting skills too much also negatively affects my durability; I learned that the hard way quite a few times in Nevermore.”
”I see, I see,” Jake nodded. ”Say, is it okay for you to be sharing details about Runemaidens like this?”
”Who cares? Valdemar sure as fuck doesn’t strike me as the sort of guy who would,” Carmen shrugged unbothered before turning a bit more serious. ”He does seriously want you to join Valhal, by the way. Gudrun is also entirely on board, and after your Leaderboards placement, I doubt anyone would dare protest.”
”I know he’s interested,” Jake just smiled, not really touching on the subject further. Even if he trusted Carmen, he wouldn’t share with her details about how his relationship with the Malefic Viper truly was. The fewer knew about his status as a Heretic-Chosen, the better.
”Personally… I don’t really think you should join,” Carmen said after a few seconds.
”Hm?” Jake exclaimed, surprised.
”Think about it. If you join, you’ll likely be made the Chosen of Valdemar, or at least someone with a higher position than me, which will make things really fucking awkward. Moreover… I wouldn’t want the competition,” she said, smiling during the last part.
”You’re aiming to become Valdemar’s Chosen?” Jake asked.
”Sure as fuck giving it a shot. I need to if I want to even try and keep up with all of you other damn monsters… seriously, why the fuck are so many of the strongest people in this generation from Earth?”
”Not a clue,” Jake smiled, shaking his head, at least happy to know others shared those feelings.
”It’s just weird,” Carmen sighed.
The two of them didn’t say more as they were silent for a while. After a bit, Jake took out the disc he had been handed by the Demon Prince, having decided to read it over. Carmen saw him take it out, Jake having already explained to her earlier he planned on spending a few days in the Valhal compound, partly to study this disc.
Seemingly not wanting to disturb him, Carmen got dressed and went out into the courtyard of her personal residence to do some training. Jake got curious and decided to see how she was training before he fully immersed his mind in the disc.
He saw her take up a position in the middle of a small open area as she closed her eyes and took deep breaths. Then, her eyes shot open as she punched forward, followed by several more strikes into thin air. She barely moved faster than a regular pre-system human as she boxed with a seemingly invisible opponent, and she even dodged and weaved in between unseen blows. After about a minute, Jake realized something. The way she moved, dodged, struck… was similar to their spar. Not in that it was the general moves, but the entire flow was recognizable.
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She’s shadowboxing a version of me? Jake questioned as he looked at her practice a bit longer. Even from within the building, he could feel the odd energy surrounding Carmen and her intense and unbroken focus as she was entirely immersed in her imagined fight. Some pretty powerful concepts were also at play, and Jake even felt some faint energy come out of the ground beneath her. With a second inspection, he noticed that the huge magic circle spanning the entirety of Valhal’s compound faintly responded, a small part of it active, seemingly facilitating and assisting in training like this.
It really is a peak faction for fighting fanatics, huh, Jake thought with a light smile. With things like this and the archery range, maybe Jake should just see if he could join Valhal as an honorary member. Or, at the very least, blackmail Villy into giving him cool stuff like the archery range.
He really wanted an archery range.
Jake looked on only a bit more before he decided it was time to focus on his own matters. Delving into the disc, Jake began to study the proposed ritual by the Demon Prince, and his first impression was that it felt… kind of familiar? It definitely had many conceptual aspects in common with some of the rituals Jake had done before. There was also a lot of new to it, though, and it was a more complex ritual than anything Jake had ever done before. Besides maybe the one that helped birth Vesperia, however, that ritual had been one that required several stages and whatnot, while this ritual would be a one-and-done.
He also saw that he would not be doing this ritual alone. Several C-grade demons would assist him, but Jake would be the main maestro. The conductor who controlled everything. It was a bit similar to the ritual he had done with Mystie and Hawkie to help hatch Sylphie. This one would require the other helpers to do quite a bit more than Hawkie and Jake had to back then, but everything would be up to the discretion of Jake.
In fact, Jake was pretty quickly beginning to understand why the Demon Prince had asked him. This ritual was not one created to be performed by a C-grade, especially not a mid-tier C-grade. Moreover, based on Jake’s analysis, the person performing the ritual had to be within only a dozen or so levels of the Demon Prince, or it simply wouldn’t work due to the disparity in quality. While each grade was a massive jump, each level within every grade was also a small step, and having someone atop the staircase try to do this ritual wouldn’t lead to any good results for the demon.
Coupled with the extreme requirements of the ritual master – the one in charge of the ritual – Jake could see how it would be difficult to find someone qualified. It was also easy to see, especially when the Demon Prince also factored in Jake’s identity as the Harbinger of Primeval Origins, that Jake seemed like perhaps the best choice in the multiverse. And while the process of creating creatures like Vesperia was a lot simpler than most probably expected, it still wasn’t easy.
With all of this in mind, one ultimate question remained: did Jake have confidence in pulling off this proposed ritual?
Well, he would give it at least a fifty-fifty. It was definitely harder than anything he had ever done before, but Jake had also grown a lot stronger since he last did any major rituals, outside of the one with the Twinhead Ogre, but that was more fucking up an existing ritual circle.
Over these last fifty years, he had definitely progressed a lot when it came to ritualism. In addition, he specialized in Soul Ritualism, which this ritual definitely fell under. From his analysis, the primary bottleneck with this ritual also wasn’t pure skill or the knowledge of the ritual master but as much the insane minimum requirement of control and stats. There was a lot of powerful energy to keep track of at once, and some of this energy would be related to the Cerulean Devil. Most wouldn’t even dare try and touch anything related to a god… but Jake didn’t really care overly much.
One annoying thing did become clear, though.
I’ll need to throw in some Jake Juice as a binding agent of sorts, he noted to himself. Not a lot of it, just enough to nudge things to merge together. Maybe other alchemists or ritual experts could find some way to make them merge without this method, but Jake sure as hell didn’t know any. With what he was reading from the disc provided by the Demon Prince, the demons sure didn’t have any set plans either but would ”leave the merging process entirely up the Chosen’s discretion.”
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