I do not sleep in my room at night, even though I have a mattress there. I gave the twins a lot of good things in exchange for it. They’d stolen a dozen of them from the Academy. Some of the demons got their hands on a few as well, which made it really profitable for the twins. In a way, it almost reminds me of people getting gold from natives in exchange for glass bead necklaces.

Still, even with a fancy mattress, I end up on one of the highest branches of the man-eating tree, in a patch where the branches thin out enough to offer a view of the night sky.

I receive a question and send back my answer, and soon after, a floating burrito-shaped corgi appears near me and plops down on the branch. This time, Biscuit is in his adult form without the antlers. He’s wearing a vest, showing that he doesn’t plan to expand in size anytime soon.

The vest is something Izzy made for him with the help of some of the women from Dusk Horizon. It’s been woven from the black threads of a dangerous spider often found in the area north of here. On it is a set of embroidered images, colorful and cute. And pockets. Lots of them. Biscuit likes to keep things in them, mainly shiny stones.

"You still don’t want to come to Beyond?" I ask.

From his lying position, he lifts his head and shakes it. (Food.)

That single word contains dozens of sentences interwoven with images, memories, and flashes of the scents he’s experiencing. As always, I look very different through his eyes from how I see myself in the mirror.

I’m not black and white as I would’ve expected, having always heard that was how dogs saw the world. In Biscuit’s eyes, I look much bigger, and the colors around me are warmer than the rest of the area. Through the shared sense, I feel what he feels when I pet his head, an incredibly soft and gentle sensation. My voice also sounds different, softer and clearer, as if not a single word I said could be missed.

There is much more, but even these surface thoughts, memories, and feelings, all shared in less than a second, would be enough to overwhelm some people at my level and might even kill a normal human outright. It feels crazy when I think about it from the point of view of my pre-tutorial self.

"If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. You know very well I won’t force you," I say.

In answer, he nudges my hand. He continues until I pet him again, while he keeps looking up at me.

"You really should stop playing with that ferret thing, it is creepy."

(Friend!)

"I would rather it was sustenance."

(Asshole!)

"That thing is so much worse than me."

Biscuit bites my finger, shaking his head while holding it between his teeth.

"How scary."

(Asshole.)

"Yes, that’s me. What do you want to ask?"

(Happy?) He stops shaking his head and instead looks into my eyes.

I give it a thought, but not for long. "I think I am, and you?"

(Friends. Happy. Food. Happy. Stay. Always.)

"Well, if we want it to stay that way, we’d better take out anyone who tries to interfere, shouldn’t we?" I say. Though I do notice that he’s put friends before food.

(Fuck up!)

"Yeah, but please don’t say it too often, the others will complain."

His voice turns deeper, the kind you would hear from a dark sky with the distant rumble of a world-ending storm. (Be not afraid.)

"You little jerk, I’m not afraid of them."

(Gone. Weak.)

"Yeah, yeah. Brave words from someone who shows his belly for the smallest piece of deer jerky. Have you met up with your disciple through your token?"

(Meet. Happy.)

"That’s nice to hear. Hopefully, you get to summon him during the 3rd tournament. This one will be spicy, though, so we’ll have to be careful."

(Be there. Help.)

I ruffle the top of his head. "Yes, if we need it, I will ask."

(Help. Now?)

The words catch in my throat, heavy and difficult to force out. "No need," I manage after a pause. "I can endure this much. The others haven’t noticed, so don’t tell them. Okay?"

He bites at my hand to get my attention. (Friend.)

I take it all in, the sentences, the flashes of memory and feeling. They are warm.

"I know my body is getting more and more fucked up as we go. But I have a plan. Several of them actually."

He stares at me for a while longer. (Stay. Together. Always.)

The sound of these sentences is not the same. Each word comes out softer, carried on a voice that sounds weaker with each one.

I look at him for a bit before reaching out and slapping his back near his butt, making him twitch and woof in surprise.

He attacks me right away, in a way that makes me wonder if the drool monster demon didn’t learn his ways from him.

----------------------------------------

I return to Beyond feeling refreshed. We set up more plans, well, mostly Tess and the others. Even though we are not strong enough to avoid being thrown around by much more powerful people, there are still ways for us to fight. Soon our time will come too, when we will stand as the top dogs of Beyond, replacing the monsters who’ve already finished their tutorial.

Back in my room in the branch of Primordial Knights, I look at the burned ceiling and wonder what the hell could have happened in here. Did the security lady do that?

So far, there’s no one knocking on the door, but I am sure people have been alerted to my presence. While I wait for them, I make my preparations and continue to think.

There’s no way for me to hide it from Biscuit, but thanks to my effort, the others from group 4 do not know. Lily might suspect something soon, especially if we want to experiment on my body, and I will not let her. I already have countermeasures in place for that.

It is silly to hide it, I know. As cliché as it sounds, I don’t want them to know. Not because they would worry, but because they would treat me differently. They would try to take on some of the burden I’ve placed on myself. But my pride tells me this is the right way to go about things. I want it that way.

Maybe in the end, it is not just a slightly selfish act that I’ve forced on myself. Instead, it’s my pride telling me that I can handle it, that I can endure it.

I will continue pushing my body. I will not stop leveling up. I will get my next body upgrade soon, which will make these problems worse. My partially unsealed heart. All the constructs I’ve been strengthening, and having to fix more and more often. My active skills as they steadily grow too powerful for my body, leveling too quickly for how low my constitution is.

Even then, I feel it is not enough. I can push myself more. I can become stronger.

I’ll stop raising my constitution, and I will change my restrictive training emblem and burden enhancement inscriptions so they no longer increase it. Just so I can see how the higher-leveled active skills affect my body. In the process, I will master these skills to an even higher degree.

Lissandra said I have five to ten years to come up with a way to solve all of this, and I plan to do so. I will continue running downhill, gaining more and more speed as the slope grows steeper, just so I do not fall.

I hear a sound and watch as a letter slides from under the door. I stare at it for a bit, but it does not explode or burn, even after I do a few checks on it. Taking a few steps, I grab it and read the contents.

The branch leader angry. Security leader angry (more so than usual). Weslin and Talon are waiting for you at the foundation of the new base.

I recognize the handwriting as belonging to one of Talon’s underlings.

Without hesitation, I move quickly, taking a few of my prototypes and some items I think I might need. I don’t bother with the door. Instead, I reach toward a [Ley Line] I know they haven’t discovered yet and teleport. I know it will trigger dozens of alarms, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Outside the guild branch, I use Wraith Dance a dozen times in a row. Some simply take me around large groups of people, others take me across entire streets. I channel one after another in quick succession. When I finally come to a stop, I examine my body, pleased to find no damage at all.

Exiting the city-like outpost, I lift into the air and head in the direction of the outpost we’ve been working on. There are a few monsters along the way, but this time I ignore them and just continue forward.

In about ten minutes, I reach the meeting place while sending a signal through the small brooch pinned to my shirt. As for my clothes, they are mostly white, like a uniform, with a pale blue shirt beneath. Out of the multiple styles offered, I picked the most comfortable ones that still looked the least formal. The brooch, after receiving my mana, decodes it, confirms it is me, and then activates while sending a single ping of signal towards the others.

This is already the third one I’ve gotten, since I dismantled the others, yet so far, I still can’t mimic how it works, no matter how much I try.

Once inside the camp, the ones responsible for security deactivate part of the defenses. I get marked, and after that, I’m allowed to pass. There, standing on the edge of the camp, Talon waits for me.

He is waving and smiling brightly. Unlike me, his clothes are more formal and well taken care of. On his back rests a pitch black bow, and the sleeve on his left forearm is rolled up to his elbow, showing an emblem etched into his skin. I know that emblem helps him concentrate, letting him channel his Primordial Stellar Wind and form projectiles from it. It also helps him to create arrows made purely of mana.

"Long time no see, Nathaniel. You look good! I just got a list of complaints from one of our scouts. He said he could barely feel your mana or notice any of the kinetic energy radiating off of you. He only realized you were near when you got close enough to send a ping."

"Isn’t that his problem?"

"Oh, come on! The guy is trying, and despite being a demon, he’s one of the more reasonable ones." Talon waves it off.

He takes me to the edge of the outpost, and only there stops to face me. His voice becomes quieter. "He has good hearing, so don't provoke him, please? Nathaniel, I swear, he’s going to challenge me again if he hears you say that. I am tired of lunatics trying to fight me the moment I look even a little available. I didn’t sign up for that shit. Every single time, every damn time, the moment I breathe too loud, somebody comes running with that smug demonic grin. ‘Oh, Talon, I’ve been waiting to test myself against you!’ Test yourself? Test yourself on what exactly, my nerves? My patience? My good heart? Because I’m starting to get fucking fed up!"

His voice lowers even more, and his expression twists into something almost as maniacal as some of the demons he’s been complaining about. "You know how many nights of sleep I’ve lost already? Do you know how many dinners I had to leave going cold because some lunatic thought it was the perfect moment to test themselves against me? I can’t even eat in peace anymore. I sit down with a nice roasted dead fucking bird, and boom, challenge. I sip water, boom, challenge. I sneeze." He pauses and takes a deep breath. "I FUCKING sneeze, Nathaniel, and suddenly I am in the middle of a duel like it is some sacred demon tradition!"

A sudden grip on my shirt pulls me forward, his gaze darting around. When he sees no demons standing nearby, he shakes me slightly. "And don’t get me started on the bow. Ever since I got it from the Primordial Lunatic treasury, it’s been the same thing. ‘Talon, BUDDY, let us see how long I last against your arrows!’ You know how long they last? Ten seconds. Maybe fifteen if they’re particularly stubborn. And then somehow I end up being the bad guy because I went easy on them. What do they expect me to do, fucking kill them right away? Do they even understand how many shards I would be fined with the clauses in my contract?!"

His grip becomes stronger. "And every time I complain to the branch leader, that asshole just laughs in my face and says: ‘Oh, Talon, that’s just the price of power, you should be proud!’ Proud?! Proud of what, exactly? Proud that I suffer from mana deficiency because of all the constant fighting? Proud that my shirt sleeves keep getting ruined in the process? I liked that shirt, Nathaniel! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find one that fits properly?"

After finally letting go of me, he takes a step back. His eyes are wide open, and he smiles far too brightly. "I swear, if one more person tries to ambush me in the bath, I’m quitting. I will walk straight into the wilderness and live off mushrooms and grass. They’ll never find me, not before I return to my tutorial."

I nod and think about giving him some advice, but from the look on his face, I can tell he’s not interested in hearing it. He just wanted to vent. So instead I ask, "So what happened, and why are the branch leader and security lady angry?"

"Oh, that? The guild currently holding seventh place in the rankings just declared war on us."