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Chapter 230 - A Budding Scientist in a Fantasy World
🕑 Added 2025-08-01 23:23:20 +0000 UTC“There are monsters inside the room,” whispered Alice. She made sure that her voice was loud enough for the other members of the group to hear her, but not loud enough to disturb the nest of spiders on the other side of the door.
“They haven’t reacted to us, even though we’re so close. It’s very unusual,” said Allira, a moment later.
Alice blinked in surprise, before she realized that Allira was right. Generally speaking, monsters had excellent abilities to detect other life around them, because monsters were so sensitive to mana. Then, once they sensed prey, they would madly sprint towards the other life form and attempt to devour it. In a strange way, they reminded Alice of zombies from a movie back on Earth.
Since monsters were so good at detecting people, why hadn’t the monsters in the room attacked them already?
It took Alice a few seconds to realize what had changed. It was the mana.
Normally, the mana in a human was dozens, or perhaps even hundreds of times higher than the mana density of the surrounding air. Life itself seemed to gather mana far more effectively than the atmosphere in this world. While Alice still didn’t know why that was the case, it was certainly true that humans had very dense mana inside of them. Normally, this probably made humans stand out like lanterns on a dark night. Monsters were sensitive to mana, and with such dense sources of ‘food’ in front of them, they would naturally try to take a bite.
The System was different. In here, the mana density was ludicrous. Anyone who hadn’t already undergone a mana baptism would instantly undergo a baptism here. The mana was so dense that it looked like it would condense into liquid if even a bit more mana was added. In this kind of environment, even the mana density of a human wouldn’t stand out much.
In a bizarre way, the absurdly high mana density in the environment blinded the monsters gnawing at the innards of the System. The extreme mana density might have allowed the monsters to reproduce and grow at a much faster rate than usual, but it also meant the group could ambush the monsters, instead of the other way around.
That didn’t make Alice feel much better, though.
What the heck were monsters doing in the System in the first place? The System, as far as Alice knew, seemed incredibly well-defended. The walls would kill any intruders who touched them. The ceiling had automated crossbows to fire at enemies. The walls were made of a ridiculously hard, regenerating metal, making it hard for even the most powerful of monsters to worm their way into the System. Alice couldn’t think of a reason for the System to allow monsters inside, so these spiders should have broke in or snuck in.
Alice frowned even more deeply when she saw a few spiders skitter from one side of the room to another. The monstrous spiders didn’t seem to have any kind of metal manipulation or superstrength - which were the two easiest ways Alice could think of to break into the System. How had the spiders gotten in here, despite having no plausible way to get past the walls?
“Both of you are sure that there are monsters in that room?” asked Ethan, breaking Alice out of her thoughts.
“Yes,” said Allira. “I’m as surprised as you are. I didn’t expect to see such a large horde of monsters in this area. After all, given the defenses here… I thought that monsters would seriously struggle to break in.”
Ethan’s gaze hardened. “It seems we finally know why things started to go wrong in the world.”
Alice nodded in agreement. Seeing what the monsters had done to the room in front of them, Alice also finally understood why the System had started glitching out several months ago. With monsters literally eating most of the circuitry and enchantments that kept the System running, it was a miracle that as much of the System still worked as it did.
“The idea that monsters snuck in here and damaged so much of this place is more than slightly horrifying,” said Ethan. “It implies that the security of the System isn’t as tight as it should have been - and more importantly, it means that we’re going to have a far more dangerous time here than we expected. If one type of monster slipped in here, there might be more - or there might be other threats, such as potentially hostile Immortals. Either way, this isn’t a simple repair job. There are enemies here beyond the security system.”
Alice paused, and then shivered at the thought.
Ethan was right.
Alice had already been wondering how the spiders had gotten into the System, but now, she realized there was another possibility.
The movements of the spiders seemed unnaturally fast and silent. Alice suspected that this meant the spiders were more focused on either stealth or speed. In other words, the spiders couldn’t have gotten into the System on their own. However, the spiders were in here. Furthermore, based on the fact that the System had only started cutting out recently, the spiders must have only gotten into the internals of the System recently - within the last few years, at most.
What did that mean?
It meant that the spiders had recently entered this place, and they probably hadn’t gotten in here on their own. There were two ways Alice could think of that the spiders could have gotten into the System.
First, there was a chance that someone had entered the System - either through one of the other doors or by cutting through the walls. If this was the source of the spiders, it would imply that the spiders were more focused on stealth, rather than speed. Alice could easily imagine a stealthy monster slipping into a crack in the System’s exterior, given the right conditions. This would also imply that there was at least one other group of people in the System, which could prove to be a major threat if that group was hostile.
The second possibility was almost as terrifying. Alice had already seen that powerful ocean monsters could dent the outer framework of the System, even if Alice suspected such cases were rare. If that was the case, it was also possible that a strong enough monster could work its way directly into the System by destroying one of the walls and then rushing in. If that was the case, it would also mean that a very powerful monster was probably lurking in the System, munching on more System circuits - and that its strength was likely far above that of the spiders.
Both scenarios were dangerous, just in different ways. No matter what, it meant that there were even more threats in the System that they had yet to encounter. Worse, the group had no idea what to expect. At least for now, they were stuck wandering through endless, high-security steel corridors with unknown threats lurking in the darkness. On top of the high potential danger of setting off the walls or ceiling crossbows, Alice felt like even a single misstep could spell the group’s doom.
Alice took a deep breath, and tried to calm down. Even if there were hidden threats, she was still travelling with two combat-focused Immortals, and had two other Immortals with her. Her group was probably still quite safe. Then again, this was the System. Anything that could make its way in here must be special…
Alice felt doubts start to swirl in her heart again, and shook her head. They could think about other problems later. Right now, they needed to focus on the problem in front of them.
Alice looked at Ethan for a moment, hesitated, and then turned to Allira and Myra instead.
“Could the two of you… deal with the spiders in the room?” asked Alice. “Preferably without damaging any of the materials inside. There are still some intact enchantments, and if I study them I might be able to learn more about how to fix this whole mess.”
Allira nodded. “Let me scout first. Myra, do you have anything that would let you open the door without alerting the monsters inside?”
“I do. Give me a second. Also, move away from the door, everyone. This Perk works by interfering with mana and vision, but it’s best to put as little strain on the Perk as possible,” said Myra. The group moved out of the way of the door, before the rainbow mana in Myra’s body started to swirl around. A few moments later, Myra opened the door, but a barrier of rainbow mana appeared to separate the room from the hallway.
A few shadows scuttled out of Allira’s shadow and into the room. Allira frowned.
“I think I can do it,” said Allira. “That being said, there’s something quite strange here. One of the spiders is a lot bigger than a regular alpha - and there are quite a few monster alphas here, too.”
Myra carefully traipsed towards the edge of the doorway, before she peeked her head into the room. She pulled her head back out, and frowned.
“I also see them,” she said. “I’ve never seen so many monster alphas coexist without ripping each other to pieces. The spider in the center is way bigger and more dangerous-looking than a regular alpha. I think… it might be a step beyond a monster alpha? How odd. I didn’t know that there was another step beyond a monster alpha.”
Alice shuddered. Monsters that were stronger than alpha monsters was not the kind of new she welcomed. She had no idea how strong monsters beyond alpha level would be - and based on Myra and Allira’s words, they didn’t either. This was uncharted territory. Furthermore, the System was also the home of all of this world’s System mana - meaning that monsters with Perks were far more likely to appear here than anywhere else. Alice could already feel a headache start to settle into her thoughts.
“I’ll try using a swarm of shadows to handle the alphas. Myra, do you think you can hold off the monster that’s stronger than an alpha? Ethan, can you act as a backup and help whichever part of the battlefield seems to be struggling? Doll… uhh… use your voice and hammer to hit anything that gets close to the door, I guess?” Allira looked a bit hesitant to assign Doll a combat role at all. Allira sighed, and rubbed her head, before she turned back to Myra. “If the monster proves stronger than expected, fall back so we can support you. As for the rest of you…” Allira turned to the regular Illvarian Mages. “Do your best to contain or kill the horde of smaller monsters. Prioritize leaving the room intact over inflicting damage - make sure that you don’t launch any projectiles you can’t keep control over. We need pinpoint precision here. That being said, if things start to go wrong, prioritize your own safety over the safety of the room. Do as much as you can, but this is only the first room we’ve encountered. There are probably more like this, so keep yourselves safe first. Does everyone understand?”
After everyone acknowledged their roles, Allira’s shadows scuttled into the room. A moment later, Allira’s shadows pounced at different monster alphas, locking on to the backs of several and ripping their heads off before they could respond. As one, hundreds of regular shadow-spiders locked on to the other members of the group. Their eyes gleamed in the darkness, like a pack of hungry wolves sighting new prey.
A moment later, the first monsters launched themselves forward. As they moved, Alice had an incredibly hard time tracking them - their forms somehow submerged themselves into darkness with each leap, meaning that while she could see them with her mana-sight, tracking their physical body was nightmarishly hard. A moment later, Alice noticed that one of the spiders hadn’t just moved closer to her - it had actually teleported from one shadow to another. It was a monster alpha - one of the few that had survived Allira’s ambush.
That wasn’t the only thing that surprised Alice.
Most of the time, Allira’s shadows were dangerous, hard to track little monsters that moved in and out of the battlefield like hidden blades. They would constantly hunt, slice, and weaken enemies until they were dealt with. However, Alice could tell that the spider monsters were exceptional at shadow manipulation. Allira’s first attack had taken down several alpha monsters, but the others had immediately dropped into the shadows and exterminated Allira’s minions, nearly instantly stripping away Allira’s greatest strength. Furthermore, the massive spider in the middle of the nest had joined them, despite Myra’s attempts to step in and distract the creature. It was flinging itself around the darkness with wanton ease, ripping apart Allira’s summons while Allira’s shadows struggled to escape.
The fight ended when the massive spider flickered out of Myra’s range, and then opened its disgusting maw. Then, it began to inhale. Allira’s shadows struggled to escape, but the monster slurped them up as if they were noodles. Then, with a crunch, it bit down, and the shadows commanded by Allira vanished.
Allira groaned as her remaining shadows were wiped out. However, Allira didn’t fall unconscious or lose control. Even though she seemed strained, she began singing a different song. This time, the lyrics reflected a bright, sunny day. The lyrics were soft and melodic, and in other circumstances, Alice wouldn’t have minded treating the song as a bedtime lullaby.
In this case, the song’s role was far more important. It lit up the room, erasing even the slightest speck of shadow. The monsters, which had previously been difficult to track and capable of teleporting, seemed to slow down the moment the sunlight wiped away every speck of shadow.
Then, the first spiders met with the Illvarian soldiers. Alice opened a few portals, and then used her kinetic energy to stab a few swords through the portals. Since she didn’t fire them like projectiles, Alice maintained control over each sword thrust - which also meant that she didn’t damage any of the System enchantments in the room. Frustratingly, the spiders seemed to have eyes on the back of their heads. No matter what angle Alice attacked from, the little monsters were almost impossible to pin down - they could adeptly maneuver around her cuts and stabs as if she were fighting a real shadow. Alice still managed to get a few of the little monsters, but even without their shadow magic, they were still frustratingly hard to deal with.
Other Illvarian Mages began contributing to the fight, using quick bursts of kinetic and organic energy to empower themselves or fling small pieces of shrapnel into the spiders. Their attacks were controlled, and while a few pieces of shrapnel still hit pieces of delicate System enchantments, there was far less damage than Alice had feared - mostly because the size and speed of the missiles were tightly controlled. Unfortunately, the Illvarian Mages were also having a hard time hitting the targets, since the spiders were so difficult to hit. They weren’t very sturdy, so even a smaller hit usually killed them - but the spiders were adept at weaving and dodging around attacks.
As Alice and the other Illvarian Mages struggled to handle the lesser spiders, Myra finally pulled out a kitchen knife. She squinted at the large spider, and then swung her knife as if it were a sword. The spider wove out of the way of her Perk-enhanced blow - only to get impaled by a kinetic magic-empowered spear. The spider slammed into the ceiling, where no System enchantments were located - and then a moment later, a giant wave of missiles splattered the giant spider all across the ceiling. Several drops of blood, hair, and flesh splattered across the faces of the Illvarian mages - including Alice. While disgusting, it meant that the biggest threat was dealt with and no further damage had been inflicted on the System.
With the biggest threat dealt with, Myra took her kitchen knife to work on the other monster alphas, while Ethan and Doll’s golem moved to the front of the Illvarian mages to engage the spiders. Ethan whipped out a sword, and while he didn’t seem very adept with it, he was good enough to wipe out the spiders by relying on sheer speed. Meanwhile, the golem blocked the spiders from getting at the Illvarian Mages behind it, allowing Alice and the other Illvarian Mages to launch more sharp projectiles at controlled speeds.
It took nearly a minute of careful fighting to handle the rest of the horde, but when the fight was over, Alice sighed in relief.
While the fight had been tedious and stressful, they had dealt with the threat without inflicting any major damage to the System’s infrastructure. Now it was time for the real test - figuring out what this room was for and how to fix it.
Author’s Note:
Join my Discord! (I’m at least sometimes active there, while I admit that I don’t generally check the comments section. I’m not very active anywhere, though - writers are antisocial people, okay!)
Comments
Rain
TFCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Stephanie Washburn
Very good. I like how much happened in this chapter.
MinE
There are assumedly other rooms and swarms to deal with, so I'm guessing this is going to be a bit of a grind once they figure out how to fix this part.
Dukeofchaos
Tftc
