I could probably say more about my time here in the base, but the days are impossible to track without the system's countdown for this beyond quest.

As interesting as the first few days were, the ones that follow are fairly boring. There are a few more attempts to eject me into outer space, along with a few attempts at poisoning me, and encounters with man-eating fauna, including a parade of gilded monsters.

There was even an attempt to cook me alive when I was moving through one of the rooms with a glass wall, and the local star appeared in the distance. The replicas somehow turned the glass into a magnifying lens and concentrated the light into a thin beam that melted half my body before I managed to defend against it.

Another fun one was when metal particles started shedding from the walls of the room I was examining. Over time, I breathed them in without noticing. Then they attempted to solidify inside my body.

Oh, and I can’t forget a few simple, but very effective, traps. The replicas left interesting items scattered all over the place, making them explode whenever I tried to examine them, no matter how sure I was they shouldn’t be able to. Just by using some weird vibrations, frequencies, or radiation, the replicas caused explosions in otherwise normal or even solid-looking items.

But as exotic as these attempts are, they’re all but useless against me.

With one and a half seals on the Ignition Heart lifted and my passive feeding on the generated thermal energy, my body restores itself quickly. My hearts and brain are kept in a barrier at all times, not to mention the other defenses I’ve built to keep them safe.

My body might not be the most durable, but damn, I am a tough bastard to kill.

Plus, there’s still my “fuck you and this base” card.

I just pierce a hole through the entirety of the base with [Empyrean Lance] and then use [Ley Line] to teleport into outer space through that hole, giving me time to break into another room should it become too dangerous to stay where I’m at.

The last elf can’t be very happy with having to constantly patch the holes my lance has caused, so damn, I love that thing.

But in the end, even I can see that these attempts on my life are not as serious as they might seem. They only serve to gauge my abilities, observe my healing, and study my defenses in preparation for the true attempt at killing me.

The replica I met said as much as it died, having no problem sacrificing itself just to gain more insight. The last elf is not combat-oriented, but he is an extremely inventive jerk when his replicas haven’t reached a high enough level to face their target directly.

I think it is a good thing these replicas only unlock their memories as they level up, likely as a result of a limitation in his [Replication] skill. If they had all his memories and knowledge from the start, I think with some resources, even a clone closer to level 200 would be enough to threaten me. Not as oppressively and easily as Lissandra could, but still.

Anyway, no one likes that guy. After my days here and with around five hours remaining, I glance over my level and stats.

Lvl 333

Strength: 274

Dexterity: 261

Constitution: 466

Mana (Stage 1/3 - Vast Mana): 1705 + 1705

My strength, constitution, and dexterity have continued growing, even now, as I make careful use of my Burden Enhancement Inscriptions and Restrictive Training Emblem.

Some might call it madness, but they would be wrong. My stats keep going up, so who are they to disagree?

At last, my mana has broken into the 1700s.

It is a good thing.

With my Reservoir, that is a shitload of mana, but nothing I can’t handle. At this point, my body is a well-oiled machine, running on a ton of mana and a questionable degree of optimism.

My skills are also rising nicely, with most of them gaining a level or two, and [Manifestation] hitting its first bottleneck.

Active skills (8/10):

Focus - Lvl 68

Perception - Lvl 66

Redistribution - Lvl 67

Mana Manipulation - Lvl 68

Ley Line - Lvl 59

Eclipse (Pride) - Lvl 42

Empyrean Lance - Lvl 27

Manifestation - Lvl 9

It has been quite a while since I freed up two active skill slots, and they have stayed free thanks to my deliberate choice. I have decided not to experiment too much with getting new skills until I know exactly what I want.

There are some I would prefer to have, while I am hoping for one that would help me with my mental abilities—like splitting my mind, thought acceleration, and the new mental exercises I’ve continued to do even now.

But even without that, the grind never stops. There are already new problems being caused by my constructs, so I have to divert more of my attention to fixing what I can and monitoring what I can’t. It is a careful balance of fixing some stuff, while creating new fuckups that I inevitably have to fix again, and then getting screwed over by things like stronger active skills making slight changes to my body, my stats causing imbalances, or a slightly relaxed seal on my Ignition Heart.

That kind of stuff. It keeps screwing up the balance. I fix it, and then it screws itself up again just to spite me. A truly neverending cycle, like a snake eating its own tail and pretending it has no other option.

As the hours tick down, I start to wonder how the others are faring. Mostly Tacita. As for Io, I think he might be dead by now. I just can’t imagine a scenario where he could actually be able to face her. Maybe he could survive if the elf locked him up somewhere in an isolated room, but that is probably all the thylarin can do.

That gray man should still be around somewhere as well, since I haven’t actually seen him die, but to be honest, I don’t really care about him all that much.

Oh, and Malika, of course. There is a fifty-fifty chance she is either still alive and throwing herself into every fight or dead at the first trap she came across. I still do not know what to think about her.

Dealing with Malika reminds me of my first minion. I hope she’s doing well enough that she doesn’t grow up to be like her. As her master and with her as my disciple, I still have that token that should let me communicate with her. I could use it once I finish this quest and sort out a few things.

I want to poke her tiny, pointy horns.

At least after all this time here, I have this place mostly mapped. A poor part of my mind, I lovingly named Mapthaniel, is currently running at all times with a single target - to keep a mental map of this place alive so I do not have to.

Using kinetic energy, thermal senses, and everything else I could, I mapped out what I could. Now, I head toward its front, where I think I can find the remaining replicas, with all of them likely very well prepared for me. The words that when the last elf shows himself to you, it is usually because he thinks he can kill you, come to my mind. If that does not sound like a clear challenge, I do not know what does.

But as I reach one of the thicker, more important doors, I stop, taking a few steps back.

I check with Mapthaniel again, and there should be a door on my left side, since there is a room there.

But there is no door.

As many times before, I release one and a half seals on my ignition heart, using a laser stream of thermal energy to start melting the surface. I narrow it even further, continuing for fifteen minutes until I feel a change in pressure. Instead of melting rock, the stream suddenly shoots ahead.

Then I stop and send [Ley Line] through the hole, teleporting inside with my defenses ready. I’ve fallen into similar traps too many times before not to be careful. But this time, there’s nothing like that. Instead, I find a dead teleportation array on the ground and a single huge panel on the wall.

One of my thermal cubes floats up and, without me even realizing it, turns into the version that gives off light with sounds similar to a crackling fireplace.

Realizing it, I shake my head and swiftly change the mode, converting it into a normal cube to light the small room.

The teleportation array is dead even as I examine it. I realize it has been like that for a long time, there are pieces missing, likely scrapped for materials to use somewhere else. But the panel is still working even though it has no power at all.

Multiple threads of mana surround me as I start connecting to the surface and nodes under the panel. I modify the frequency of my mana to match the mana crystals placed inside, all with my Mana Wavelength Iris activated. Then I start powering it up.

Right away, something makes an attempt to cut off my connection, but I track these attempts through the walls. When I locate the source and the nodes deep inside the pathways leading here, I form a lance, shoot it through the wall, and destroy one. Then repeat the process three times, destroying three of the possible access points and cutting off access to the replicas.

Each lance pierces the stone and metal like it’s nothing, then shoots out of the asteroid, probably on its way to lay the smackdown on some unsuspecting UFO. I honestly have no idea how far it will travel without any air resistance.

Then the base obviously starts patching itself up.

Just in case, I move the black halo from its place over my head and form it into a simple arrow-like projectile. Remembering how the replica stole mana from it, I pour the entirety of the mana from my Reservoir into the black projectile, making it more unstable and harder for him to interfere with. The projectile eats it all, as always, without slowing even for a moment.

When it starts reaching toward me for more, I launch it through the walls toward the place I think the replicas have hidden themselves.

Dozens of alarms activate, the base shakes noticeably, thrusters fire, then cut off as the structure changes direction. It seems I’ve already caused some trouble. I imagine the black projectile appearing in the middle of the room, possibly lodging itself in one of the control pillars or panels, as multiple replicas start rushing around in panic to get rid of it.

That should entertain them for a while.

Then I return to one of the base protocols I noticed earlier, something called The Fragment Containment Protocol. It includes dozens of sequences intended to activate one after another when the time comes to use the Pristine Cage I still have in my possession. Just as I suspected, the cage alone is not enough, and the entire base has been made from materials that should aid in the process.

I delve deeper to activate some of the sequences manually, but a warning tone rings in my ears. The engines fail me whenever I call on them, and so do the inscriptions etched deep into the evil lair of the pettiest elf in existence.

I spend the next few minutes creating [Empyrean Lance]s and shooting them through the wall toward where I estimate the control center is. I fire enough of them that I have to make myself stop before my mana drops further. The skill consumes a lot, but with the incredible piercing power it has, I’m not exactly surprised.

Afterward, I try to get into the system again, only to disappointingly meet the same result, with warnings beeping as I try to activate the sequences.

I check the timer and allow myself a minute to think.

Then I shrug.

It seems I’ll just have to cut the base in half, separating it from the replicas, so I can take over. Even though it will be more dangerous to contain the Fragment, the protocols seem like they’ll still work even with a smaller piece of the base. Half should still be enough.

I fire off another lance and send a mark through the hole to exit into outer space. Then, as the time limit runs down, I move to destroy the engines, push us closer toward the planet, and set up the charges that will split the base.