Compromise

I spent most of my time waiting on the others to arrive by practicing my magic, summoning up and dispelling either Soulfire or my Shadowmancy.

I had still not yet grasped any other abilities related to the light element but I was making decent progress in combining the other elements with the more advanced phases. Some, though, did not work so well. While I could mix Shadowmancy with elements like earth and water and wind to produce different effects and increased damage, I could not combine elements like fire or lightning that generated light.

Obviously, those elements would weaken the effectiveness of darkness. On the other hand, I could not mix water with Soulfire because it would obviously extinguish the flame. However, Soulfire was definitely more elementally versatile than Shadowmancy.

After a while of wandering around the outpost practicing these magics I found myself hovering in the air above Mistress' group who were hard at work processing different demon skins and parts to the best of their ability. Even though we did not have proper equipment, they were a crafting clan and thus had no trouble fashioning their own equipment.

At first I thought they were merely working on increasing their own survivability but when I saw the sheer amount of materials that they were processing I soon realized they were preparing armor stock for the entire alliance. The grades of all the materials at our disposal were A and would certainly make better equipment than the B materials my team was wearing.

With the introduction of level restrictions Mistress' group could not simply mass produce the actual equipment for everyone to use. Thus, they could only make the best materials they could so that everyone else could fashion their own equipment and hopefully increase their combat effectiveness. For most players, there would be little gains made since they did not focus on the auxiliary job skills like some of us.

Having finished testing the effects of electric Soulfire on the surrounding terrain by blowing up large craters, I came down from the sky to simply watch Mistress' group. They barely even minded my presence, focusing instead on their current work. They were certainly a dedicated bunch.

Mistress was the only one to actually acknowledge me and even then it was simply to ask for my opinion on the materials they were producing. I shamelessly and honestly answered with, "You shouldn't even bother asking me about it, lady. Your skills and know-how in this field are better than mine, I just got lucky and was blessed by the game's gods."

Smiling brightly at my praise, Mistress took it upon herself to try educating me about the processes they were using as well as how to craft equipment from magic or basic alchemy ingredients.

I actually ended up learning a lot from her, not just in the general processing of materials but also several material enchantments and recipes for crafting reagents to increase the effectiveness of the materials. All in all, I actually needed to make a 'slate' from granite to etch down some of the technical points and components that I could not remember myself.

After spending half an hour studying with Mistress and her group, I asked her to set aside the best materials they had made so far not only for themselves but for my team as well. Since both of our present parties were the smallest group and barely numbered over twenty, it was a small dent in the overall stock.

To reward her for sharing so much of her clan's personal techniques and recipes, I cast my blessing upon our shared stock of materials so that whatever was made from it would be stronger than everything made by the other two clans. Luckily, unless the others clans could appraise the equipment made then they will never know my favoritism.

Not long after I finished my blessings I excused myself from Mistress' lessons and went back to practicing my magic. By the time I finally managed to make a 'Soul Cutter' skill that used Soulfire as the ranged elemental slash, the others had returned from Outpost A. They were burdened heavily with butchered materials that were swiftly brought to Mistress.

Deciding to go ahead and face the music I made my way over to where the elites were gathered around Mistress' group, overseeing the material processing and claiming some stocks of finished materials. I could tell the last battle without my or my full party's support had been an enlightening experience and they wanted to up their ante for the future.

"Mr. Leo, we need to talk," Mr. Thirteen suddenly says after having his people collect a stock of materials and set to work in fashioning the bases for their next suits of armor. Without even waiting for a reply, the older man simply turned and walked off as if simply expecting me to follow.

I sorely wanted to just stand there and watch the guy walk away to see how long it would take him to realize that I was not following. However, I knew this would only make things worse and that this was probably an important discussion coming up. So, I just manned up and followed along while expecting an argument.

As soon as we came to a stop in the old boss area of the outpost Mr. Thirteen says, "That demon of yours said the outposts only get harder from hereon, right?"

"Yes," I reply simply, wondering what point he was going to get at while I realize this conversation may not be what I had anticipated. Maybe they really did realize that they needed to treat this raid differently than in other games. The difficulty level from topside had literally doubled from the very start.

"What do you think the final boss is going to be like?" He asks in a distant sort of way, obviously distracted by a large number of things taking place in his head. "Before the update, Lich Lord Trollbone alone almost wiped my and Donna's clans out and we had our entire camps together before you guys showed up."

"Orion, the demon I brought back, was roughly equal to Trollbone's stats before he became Zekrom," I inform him honestly. "This is enough for me to assume that the next boss will be double Trollbone's power and probably have the same broken health bar. Even with my Luck and abilities, I'll probably die fighting them head-on."

Nodding his head slowly while looking up at the dark granite ceiling of the underground city ruins, Little Thirteen asks, "Should we let the other clans come in and try to work with them on this one?

Shaking my head even though he could not see the gesture, I say, "No, it will only make things harder for us. you're right to be concerned about the experience sharing because we all need it in order to be capable of facing the upcoming enemy. If we bring in more people then we'll level less. Even with hundreds more people none of us will be able to withstand the actual skills of such a boss and hundreds more will die."

Bringing up a thought that had not even occurred to me, he asks now, "What if we fed all of the experience to you? Would you become strong enough to fight the boss like you did Trollbone?"

"My stats go up one point per level, so not likely," I reply honestly, thinking of the few demon titles that I had acquired that fit under Zealous Hunting. "Even with my perks and buffs, it's not likely that I'll really become that strong. One of the main reasons I could hold my own against Trollbone was because he never took me seriously at the start and when he did I was already on a roll. Plus, he was only level on hundred and I was just under ninety at the time. The next guy will be nothing short of two hundred."

"So you're basically saying that we're doomed to fail?" He asks, finally looking at me with an oddly pained expression in his eyes.

I could tell that this guy had invested all of himself in this endeavor. Everything from studying in-game myths to routing resources from his guild and probably even hiring outside experts to support him. The recent battle had hit him hard, harder than it hit the people who had actually died while fighting.

If not for my sending Go and Ivana to support them and handle the boss, both ally clans would have been wiped in that fight.

Even though this was pretty much what I wanted to happen after he started pushing my buttons and making political plays to combat my combat power, I suddenly felt like shit. I really did consider this guy as a friend more than an enemy and did not like seeing this side of someone who used to be so certain and strong in the face of any situation.

Feeling suddenly awkward under the pressure of this situation I found myself in, I say, "It's not impossible for us to become strong enough to face this enemy even with comparably low levels. Most of my power comes from a variety of different actions and reactions from the game. When I caught Cweeper, who used to be a normal female imp, I raised my Endurance and Willpower by ten points just by letting her rip my nails off while I did the same to her claws as they do with warrior imps in the wild."

"So you want us to raise our stats through self-mutilation?" Little Thirteen asks incredulously.

"Among other things," I reply shamelessly. "The point is that there are actually a vast assortment of ways to raise our stats and skills besides things like training and leveling. Do you remember the stuff in the update post on the forums about the new training manuals and how each level of classes have different levels of trainings? As well as the stuff you've seen my clan and I doing back at the cathedral?"

Giving me an uncertain look while nodding along, Mr. Thirteen says, "Yes, my people on the outside have been making a careful study of those trainings and have even been researching their backgrounds in reality. I, personally, quite enjoy Eastern content like anime and Chinese novels. The game clearly incorporated loose forms of cultivation based on this."

Honestly feeling a little left out because I had no idea what the hell cultivating even was until I did my research on the way home from the movies, I simply nod and say, "There are two forms of cultivation available to the general player base. Mana cultivation and physique cultivation. I have both, but my physique is so strong that it is restricted to Initial Success until more players reach more advanced levels of physiques. You guys, though, don't have the same restrictions that I do."

Narrowing his gaze thoughtfully while rubbing his stubbly chin, Thirteen says, "So, you're saying we should take time out to attempt cultivation? None of us have any training manuals or your near-hacking abilities. How would we even start?"

Humming softly while rushing through my thoughts and recollection of the little bit of research I had done, I say, "From what little I know, there's basically two types of cultivation, and I don't mean the stuff in the game. It is literally genres. Wuxia, which is martial arts and internal force, and Xianxia, immortal cultivation. From the stages of successes in my own efforts, mine is set to the standards of Wuxia and Xianxia is not accessible to players because we're already a type of immortal. However, both of them share physiques and the general theme for training them is attrition.

"Rubbing sea salt into your pores until you bleed to cure your skin into leather, exposure to extreme elements to condition resistances to them, and even developing layers of external scar tissue to simply thicken the skin are methods that have actually been practiced in reality with some proven effects," I go on to explain.

"Here in Bygone Era, though, all of these methods- except the scar tissue thing- will have greater and varied effect. Through my use of alchemy in the area, I can tell that salt is actually one of the minerals contained in the granite we stand. For now, I suggest starting with salting yourselves because I really don't know anything about physiques and then focus on mana cultivation."

"Physical defense is one of the things we needed the most during the last couple of fights," Mr. Thirteen agrees thoughtfully, probably thinking of how most of the demons besides the Taurians and bosses used their bodies for offense and magic for defense. "If your attrition practices with your familiar really increased Willpower, then salting ourselves will also have some effect on our magic defense. However, this seems like an extremely basic method for raising our abilities by only a little bit.

Shrugging openly with my hands raised high, I say, "You're the guy with people on the outside doing research, I only know about an hour's worth of studying. You know more, so apply that knowledge and get to work. Every little stat point or boost in parameters for increasing group survivability counts. It really is better to just do it than not to, considering our current circumstances."

"What about you?" He asks suddenly, scanning me from head to toe and back again. "Are you going to salt yourself and meditate?"

Laughing at the ridiculous idea of salting a body full of corruption and chaos, I shake my head and say, "No, my body is already crystallized mana and takes in other crystalline structures to enhance itself with the effects of those minerals or metals. Adding a weak mineral like salt will only regress my efforts so all I have access to right now is meditation. However, I can also Assimilate different types of mana into both my own mana and my body so I can achieve some physical success just by meditation."

If not, then how come reaching Initial Success in Demigod and Chaos Fiend increased my HP?

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