6 . The Infinite Tower Part : 4

Mika dropped from the pathway landing down near the guano field .

The smell of rotten eggs was strong in this cavern but he had to hold on long enough as the following process would be a long and tiresome one .

Mika turned to look at Zoe beside him studying her physique for a second . 

" What are you good at doing " Mika asked maintaining his eyes on her .

this was simply an indirect way of asking her what was her innate ability in a round about way . He understood the advantage of keeping your innate ability secret but this was not the moment for secrets .

Mika needed to know how useful she would be for the following event .

 "I'm good at hand to hand combat ." Mika also understood that a certain level of trust had to be established and that is why he first told her his expertise .

"Guns . I'm good at using guns ." Zoe stopped hesitating and finally said .

"Is you aim good enough to handle throwing weapons " Mika asked coming up with an idea that could potentially work .

He gazed at the stalactites and stalagmites some of them thin enough to be used as makeshift javelins ." I can handle it ." Zoe nodded in agreement her eyes shining at the forming scenario . 

/ TEARING SOUND /

 Mika tore the old brown clothe shirt he wore . It would act as a source to carry as many as the 'grenades' as they could .

He caught Zoe trying to secretly look at him but he was kind enough to ignore her wandering eyes . " Come , let me show you how to make ' grenades ' " he urged her forward scooping up a hand full of the guano .

The process itself was not difficult to accomplish . What was difficult was that they needed to maintain a certain level of caution and delicacy while crushing the guano to tiny particles .

They also needed to make sure the Sulphur would not be excessively mixed into the guano to prevent wasting the whole thing .

But he had prepared three 'grenades ' and filled them excessively with the two compounds .

In total , they had made about three heavy duty grenades and twelve small duty ones which would be tied to the javelins they had made .

Mika saw a screen pop out next to the two types of grenades and he clicked on them .

[

Small duty grenade +10

Item rank : To low level to be ranked

Description : Created in a cave by mixing the compounds derived from the droppings of bats . when it comes in contact with solid objects after being thrown , it immediately combusts on contact causing both explosive and burning damage . When burning , it also releases a toxic fume that causes the abnormal effect coughing and irritation

] .

The heavy duty grenades had the same description , the only difference being their explosive damage being higher and covering a wider coverage .

[[

TRIAL MISSION ACHIEVEMENT HAS BEEN MET

CREATE A SUITABLE WEAPON TO TRAVERSE THE FOREST OF GENESYIS . 

CREATED 10 SMALL DUTY GRENADES AND 3 HEAVY DUTY GRENADES 

REWARD AQUIRED 100 ACHIEVEMENT POINT AND ONE ATTRIBUTE POINT

USE YOUR REWARDS WISELY

]] 

[[CONTEATANT HAS UNLOCKED THE ' HELP ' SYSTEM FUNCTION DUE TO BEING THE FIRST TO AQUIRE ACHIEVEMENTS POINTS . ALL QUESTIONS OF CONTESTANT'S RANK WILL BE ANSWERED DURING THE TRIAL MISSION PERIOD FOR FREE OF CHARGE ]]

[[ WARNING , THIS IS ONLY APPLIED DURING THE TRIAL MISSION ]]

Mika turned shocked at the message .This was a game changer . New plans were to be created following the new message . 

"System , what are the use of achievement points ,''

[[ ACHIEVEMENT POINTS ARE USED AS A FORM OF CURRENCY BETWEEN CONTESTANTS AND ALSO THE REALM . AS LONG AS YOU HAVE ENOUGH ACHIEVEMENT POINTS , EVERYTHING CAN BE BOUGHT ]]

Mika almost shouted with joy , with this information , he already had an advantage on all the contestants they had spawned with .

He turned to look at Zoe wondering what she thought and she looked ...'casual' about the whole thing .

Did she not understand what they had achieved or maybe he was just over reacting . Mika calmed his rising emotions and thought how he could make use of this advantage .

YES , an idea came to him , one that could potentially earn them more achievement point . He turned and started explaining to Zoe his plan and she nodded looking both shocked and happy with the idea .

"You're plan could work , as long as nothing goes wrong . "

Zoe looked at him , her eyes were slowly losing the lost look she was keeping earlier and was now replaced with a weird gaze as if he were some kind of rare animal . She wondered what other kinds weird ideas he was thinking off .

" System , does the realm have the abilities of making a contract between two contestant ."

Mika new the following answer would either ruin his plan or compliment it . Was he nervous , No. If one plan failed he had countless more he could rely on .

[[ THE REALM CAN ACT AS A WITNESS FOR ANY CONTRACT BETWEEN CONTESTANTS . ANY PARTY THAT BREAKS THE CONTRACT WILL RECEIVE PUNISHMENT FROM THE REALM . ]] 

Perfect , that was the only word that could describe the beautiful words that had been said by the help assistant .

Zoe and Mika locked eyes and smiled like lunatics . They bought knew the following process was going to be the biggest scam both of them would pull of . 

" We should hurry back . " Mika started walking back to the pathway they had come from .

The sun was setting by now if his internal clock was correct ,the contestants would mostly be away from the forest if they were intelligent enough .

They quickly returned to the large cave room , finding the contestant strewn through out the entire room , most of them injured but slowly healing in the safe area . 

Mika had a very simple plan , considering that none of the other contestants had a clue on how to clear the forest without the use of brute force , he would sell the information he had acquired to them .

Yes the plan had its flaws but then again the contestants were very desperate at this very moment .

Having suffered there vey first defeat , they would clutch at any straw they could hold on to and that last straw was him .

But , Mika understood the dangers of attracting attention this early on without enough strength to back it up .

Yes he was arrogant but stupid he would never be . So , his reasoning was simple . Create a scape goat that the attention would fall to without attracting too much attention . 

That was also easy to achieve a scape goat had already been prepared for Mika earlier . How he had identified this scape goat you may ask .

First off all, they had something to prove to others . Second , they were desperate for attention and finally , they would do anything to be seen as better than others .

Mika searched the cave , looking for that very specific person and he finally saw him , sited in a dark corner of the cave . His head was in his legs , silent and alone . 

Mika approached smiling widely until he stood in front of the person . They slowly raised his head and he gazed at the hateful eyes looking back at him.

" I have a proposition that can help you regain your leadership ... MAX "

Mika's smile widened seeing the curiosity in Max's eyes , the sheer desperation in the gaze almost filled him with with a blissful surge but he had to control himself .

Max hesitated, 'why would he trust someone he barely knew . '

But then he remembered the earlier incident , the embarrassment he had gone through , the bastard that had tried to take over his position and his anger flared .

Max re clenched his teeth , all thoughts of hesitation were gone . He would pay , they would all pay .

Max's eyes met the crystal blue eyes looking at him and he felt a chill run through him , was this deal worth it . NO , he had to regain his glory "Tell me " 

Mika smiled seeing the look in Max's eyes . ' Everything was going according to plan .

******'

THE NEXT MORNING 

We should start leaving " Mika turned walking out of the cave , basking once again in the morning sun .

Zoe walked beside him for the first time since he met her , she was smiling . He turned his head and his eyes locked with Max's .

Max nodded his head before turning to look away to the people of his new increased group planning their next journey through the forest .

Piles of the grenades they had been making the whole of last night filing the area around them .

 That was the beautiful thing about human beings , they were attracted to strength and comfort and Max was now able to provide both of those things with the plan Mika had given him .

With the contract Mika had signed with Max , his leadership position was finally completely set in stone .

But , there was one person who was disgruntled with the whole event , the person who had been competing with Max for the position for leader of the group . The person who had tried conducting his own journey through the forest but failed miserably and that person was called Tony , as he had come to know . 

Tony was standing not too far from the group . His face was red in anger at the passing events .

How , how did this happen , he had almost gained complete control over the group , so how did Max steal it from him .

He just made one mistake , how could this people just abandon him because of one mistake . They would pay , he though while keeping silent and watching as Max explained himself . Yes , he would bid his time and they would all pay . 

Mika saw the the face Tony was making , the slight twitching in his facial muscles , the agitation in his hands as he was forced to listen to Max talk and he almost burst out laughing .

His expression quickly chilled and him and Zoe started walking away , headed towards forest . He felt a wave of malevolent intent directed towards him and Zoe and smiled once again . 

'This trip was definitely going to be fun . ' 

****

LOCATION : INSIDE THE FOREST 

Visibility was decreasing the further they moved into the forest . The trees were becoming increasingly bigger as they bloated the entire sky .

Mika understood why the other contestants had been struggling to bypass the forest . First off all, most of them could not see in the dark as well as he could . Secondly , they wanted to brute force clearing the forest , which was obviously a horrible decision and finally , they were not him .

Mika turned to look at Zoe and he caught her sending secret glances at him as they walked .

Her eyes were mostly concentrated around his exposed chest and why not . He was the perfect human but , he could see that the silence was starting to get to her .

"Do you know why I wanted to sign a contract with Max " Mika started , breaking the silence . Zoe looked at him confused , her mind now distracted .

" For achievement points ? " Was there any other reason apart from that , surely not .

The contract they had signed with Max was a simple one . First off all , Mika would provide him with the instructions on how to make the grenades .Max would also be able to keep the prestige among the other thirty eight contestant therefor regaining his leadership. 

Mika and Zoe would not only get 500 achievement points from each of the contestant who choose to take part in the deal , they would also have a 30 minutes head start to enter the forest .

Max also had to tell them everything he knew about the forest denizens and what they looked like .

For full proof measures , he also putt several clauses in the contract .

One of which was any reward acquired from the use of their grenades information would go to both Mika and Zoe and Max was not allowed to disclose to anyone that Mika was the one who came up with the whole idea of using grenades . 

Max was quick to agree , first off all, he did not know the value of achievement point and a low value of 500 achievement points for clearing the forest was a good deal to him .

He was also able to regain his prestige among the other contestants !!

" Yes the achievement points were a major reason for why I gave them the grenade formula but there is another reason . "

He paused , building upon the drama until Zoe started looking annoyed and then continued . " If you remember correctly , while the hint said light and heat , we reasoned that the hint was referring to fire . Correct ?" Zoe nodded her head in agreement confused now . 

" What we did after reasoning the hint was referring to fire was to make grenades which would produce the fire needed to scare off the creatures . But , where exactly did the hint say the creatures were afraid of fire . "

Zoe was now shocked . True it was correct , the hint never said the creatures were afraid of fire .

That was the conclusion they came up with on their own . using that way of reasoning , the opposite could also be true . If the creatures were not afraid of fire .

'They would be attracted to it ' Zoe's eyes opened wide in shock and then it suddenly hit her as she looked sharply at Mika beside her . 

" You didn't give Max the grenade plan so you could earn achievement points , you did it so you could use them as bait !" 

Mika smiled slightly , enjoying her shock and basking at her amazement . Yes , that was the difference between him and the other failed contestants . He would plan and scheme and finally , he would WIN!!

" A noble sacrifice for my greater good ."

*****

A/N : Biggest chapter I've written yet 

The next chapter they are out of the forest . and I think I will be introducing a few new characters , the lore behind the realm and finally of to our first random world 

PS : can anyone guess which world it is . I'll give you a hint . It has robots

Thank you for reading and peace out .