Chapter 697: Nevermore: Finally Done

Jake analyzed the structure as he noticed several errors in it. This structure in question looked like a large square building, at least twenty stories tall and made of pure mana. It was hardened and reminiscent of Jake's stable arcane mana, but it was indeed just pure mana formed into a shape and then compressed and strengthened through formations.

His job was to bring the structural integrity up to a certain level but to do that, he had to address flaws embedded within the structure. Not just on the outside either. This meant he had to "drill" holes and infuse mana to fix what was wrong before he could cover everything up again - all while making sure none of what he did would make the entire thing collapse.

As several formations also covered the building, he had to avoid those too. How long it took him, Jake didn't know, but he quickly found flaw after flaw, and in many cases, he had to make up new methods on the spot to fix a particular problem. His preferred method was to strengthen the mana using hardened braided mana strings, almost functioning as rebar.

Due to its nature as a mana puzzle, Jake couldn't use his arcane affinity, but he could infuse some concepts from it. It reached a level where the normal mana was nearly identical to his arcane mana, though there were still some stark differences, such as the sheer gap in durability between the two and the far more physical nature of his stable arcane mana. While a powerful enough disruptive mana wave could make the entire "solid" structure in front of him collapse, it wouldn't be able to do the same to his arcane mana.

After an undetermined amount of time, Jake nodded. Everything seemed good. With a thought, a prompt appeared before him.

Submit Completion?

This was something else Jake had learned. The Puzzle Box was programmed to respond to things he did and worked a lot like a computer program, even able to summon system prompts while he immersed his consciousness within it. In some ways, entering a box was a lot like entering his Soulspace.

Jake confirmed his submitted completion. Suddenly, pressure washed over the entire mental scape, as it felt like gravity increased dozens of times over. Jake himself was utterly unaffected as he had been turned completely intangible, also making him unable to interfere with the test.

The building held strong, but then a powerful wind of pure mana came in from the side... which was when Jake saw he had slightly damaged one of the formations around the ninth floor. A part of the wall crumbled, and the wind invaded the structure, ravaging through it. Within seconds, the entire mana structure collapsed and dispersed into nothingness.

Level failed. Retry?

I'll get it this time!

Yeah, this wasn't his first attempt...

Retrying, the building reappeared, but it was not exactly identical. The difficulty level was the same, but the test itself itself was different. The formations were similar but placed in different locations, the flaws were never the same, and the entire building had slightly changed and was even twenty-one stories this time.

This was naturally done so one couldn't just try the same level over and over again until they completed it. It was a test of skill, after all, not pure trial and error.

More time passed as Jake fixed everything he could find and made sure to strengthen certain sections of the building he feared weren't strong enough to handle the stress. After double-checking everything looked right, he once more got the system prompt.

Submit Completion?

Like last time, he approved, and the pressure reappeared. This time the building held, and even when the disruptive mana wind swept through, none of the formations were dismantled. The entire stress test went on for about two minutes before everything stopped, and he got another prompt.

Level 54 completed. Proceed to level 55?

Jake said yes, as he appeared on the next level. This one was a massive hanging bridge of mana, and Jake instantly began to analyze it as he became aware the task this time was to make sure the bridge could bear a certain weight while staying stable for at least one year in a sped-up stress test. However, he did not get far, for within his Sphere of Perception, he saw something he hadn't hoped would happen...

The Sword Saint was walking towards his room... which could only mean one thing: Sylphie and the Fallen King were done collecting their damn coins. The Golden Mark left by the King tended to expire after a few weeks, which was why the old man had to go get him in person.

It was with mixed feelings he emerged from the box. He looked down at the precious object for a moment and smiled.

[Puzzle Box of the Seeker (Divine)] - A puzzle box created by the god known as the Seeker. This box is filled with a total of 10000 levels of mana puzzles of ever-increasing difficulty. Fully unlocking the box will reveal an item sealed within. Soulbinds to anyone who beats the first level. Levels completed: (54/10000).

After giving the best Puzzle Box in the world a hug, he put it away as he stood up. Checking the time, he saw he hadn't moved from the floor in about a month, so he stretched a bit and went towards the door, ready to open it the second the old man knocked.

The bastard never knocked but just stood outside for a moment before speaking.

"Jake, I know you know I am here."

"Can you knock anyway?" Jake asked.

"No."

"Please?"

The old man sighed as he reached out, but just before he could knock, Jake opened the door while grinning.

"You were totally surprised, right?" Jake joked.

"Truly," he shook his head. "I assume you know why I am here?"

"Sylphie finally got enough Minaga Coins?"

"Precisely," the Sword Saint nodded as Jake walked out and began following the old man as they headed out of the hotel. "And she is not happy about being the last one to complete her coin-gathering. She has not complained as much as the Fallen King, though."

"Not gonna lie... it's about bloody time," Jake said. "Did Carmen and her party manage to get ahead of us?"

"She did. They left just a week ago," the old man confirmed.

"Fuck me," Jake grumbled.

"Disappointed she did not say goodbye?" the Sword Saint teased.

"Nah, we already talked about limiting our interactions in this period leading up to her leaving, and with Jacob and Casper leaving, we had fewer excuses to meet. Her going to say goodbye would have been weird from an outsider's perspective," Jake shrugged. It wasn't like she hadn't come by quite a few times during their shared time on the floor. "Just hoped we would at least beat them."

Jake did also regret not having a proper bout with Carmen in the arena. Both of them had wanted a duel, but sadly there was no way to have private fights. With how durable Carmen was, Jake would likely have been forced to go all-out, and he wanted to hide some of his abilities if he could. Especially skills like Eternal Shadow, which were incredibly effective when used without the opponent being aware of them. Jake not using his full power would also be disrespectful to Carmen. So, in the end, they agreed to postpone their duel.

"The scientist from Haven also reached the floor. Are you going to go greet him before we leave?"

"Arnold? Nah, he is a big boy; he can handle himself," Jake shrugged. "Besides, I reckon he would have reached out to me if he wanted anything. He isn't the type to just wait around."

"How about your brother or Maria?" the Sword Saint also asked.

"Already did before my last practice session, as I quite frankly expected us to have already moved on by now," Jake said, shaking his head.

"I see," the old man nodded, not saying more as they kept walking.

It was a bit annoying, but Jake and company had ended up taking just over two years doing Minaga's City Floor. Sylphie had ended up being the big limiter in how fast they could pass the floor, as the deck was honestly stacked against her.

She was the highest-leveled of them all, which meant she had the biggest toll to pay, but she also had the problem that her marketable skills were limited. She couldn't craft anything, and when it came to tasks she could assist with, she was equally limited as many of these tasks required knowledge or skill in certain disciplines.

Sylphie was simply too young to have ever learned anything complex, and all her powers came from instinct and her powerful innate knowledge as a beast. Sadly for her, none of this innate knowledge helped her anywhere outside of the arena.

Jake and the others did help her as much as possible. She sold items they had obtained within Nevermore and reached the cap for how many coins she could earn every single month, but that only did so much.

The two of them quickly walked together to the toll booth, where they met up with the three others. Sylphie was indeed a grumpy bird, with the Fallen King looking more than a little impatient to finally get a move on. Dina looked fine and gave them a small wave as she saw them approach.

"About time you arrived," the Fallen King said when they made it over.

"Well, excuse me for adding another five minutes to this city floor. When was it you got done collecting your coins again?" Jake smiled teasingly.

"Let's just proceed," the Unique Lifeform said, really seeming in a hurry.

Jake proceed to activate the toll booth together with the Sword Saint, allowing them to walk through the gate leading to the next floor. The moment he paid, Jake got a system prompt that he had honestly forgotten was even a thing.

Bonus Objective Completed: Pay the Toll to leave the city floor without ever leaving Nevermore. 500 Nevermore Points earned.

"Five hundred points, huh?" Jake said with a small smirk.

"Yeah, not a lot... but it is something, isn't it?" Dina answered, trying to be positive.

"An amount so low it is almost insulting. This entire floor has just been a useless waste of time," the Fallen King scoffed.

"Could have been more productive for sure, but I won't call it a total waste of time," Jake shook his head. True, it had been pretty damn inefficient when it came to gathering Nevermore Points, but that didn't mean it had been a waste of time. They had all stayed in contact during this time, and based on how the number of opponents the Fallen King and Sylphie killed in the arena every day slowly increased, the two of them had clearly improved. The many tasks Brokers gave were also all ones that required the person to slowly get better.

Jake and the Sword Saint had also naturally progressed their professions quite a bit, with Jake even improving his mana control with his Puzzle Box. The Sword Saint hadn't sat still either but had chosen to continue painting even when he didn't need it for Minaga Coins, as the old man wanted to rake up some more profession levels. In his words, then it was rare he had calm periods like this to just relax and paint, and he seemed hit less hard by the diminishing returns than Jake for some reason.

"Perhaps not a total waste, but can you truthfully say you wouldn't have preferred to do without?" the Fallen King countered.

"Well, if you put it like that..."

"Ree!" Sylphie joined in on the complaining.

"Who is delaying our progress now?" the Sword Saint butted in as he motioned for them all to proceed. "The thirty-sixth floor awaits."

The old man was right, and they stopped dragging things out as they moved through the barrier blocking the entrance to the next floor. Through this barrier was just another gateway, and without further ado, they all activated it as they were teleported away.

They appeared within a vaguely familiar room. It gave Jake the same vibes as the usual "welcome" room they had first seen on the thirty-first floor, but it all seemed a bit more... high-brow? The old-ish-looking temple walls were replaced with pristine marble, and overall it just looked more well-kept.

"About time you arrived here. That took quite a while, huh?" a voice echoed through the hall as their dear dungeon master appeared on the central platform, though there were no fireworks or big display.

"And whose fault is that?" Jake instantly countered.

"Not mine if that is what you are insinuating," Minaga denied. "You can't blame me for you being slow."

"You designed the rules of the city floor," Jake pointed out.

"That I did, but doesn't that just mean you are even more at fault? Because me being wrong couldn't be the case, hence why it must be entirely on you. Definitely," Minaga nodded confidently.

"Fine, we suck, happy?" Jake sighed. "Now, what's the plan from here?"

"Five more floors of my labyrinth," the Unique Lifeform answered.

"Huh... don't you think it is kind of beginning to overstay its welcome?"

"Hey, I tried to mix it up!" Minaga seemed offended. "These next four floors - with a special surprise on floor forty - are all of an identical design with only slight changes, but they offer something interesting nearly no other dungeon floor does: true choice!"

"But it is still a labyrinth?" Jake asked.

"Yes, there are still labyrinthian features."

"So..."

"Yes, you will be able to utterly cheat and ruin all sense of exploration, ruining much of the fun of the floor... but not as much as on some of the others," Minaga answered, looking like he had entirely given up on trying to stop Jake from cheating.

"Nice, just wanted to make sure," Jake smiled.

"Now, as with prior floors, I will once more need you to make a difficult choice - better known as a difficulty choice," Minaga said, very proud of his wordplay.

"Do we have the same options as on prior floors?" the Sword Saint asked.

"Yep... and can I just assume you will choose the Archmage difficulty? Anything else wouldn't really make any sense," Minaga asked.

"Naturally," the King answered.

"Great, great," the dungeon master nodded. "Now, I do know you suffered a bit during my wonderful city floor and aren't all that happy, so let me give you a tiny little tip to cheer you all up. This is not the only time on this floor that you will have the choice of taking an easier or a harder path... and if you want the best ending, don't ever take the easy route. Always strive for the highest difficulty."

"Duly noted," Jake smiled.

"Now, with all that over, I hope you enjoy this floor and those to come! I will add one more thing... I kind of learned that characterization is not my strong suit, so that is very limited in these next few floors," Minaga said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Probably for the best," Jake nodded as he teased the totally-not-a-god. "Not only because the "people" were bloody horrible immitations of real sapient creatures, but because it makes life harder for assholes who are good at manipulating them. A pleasant surprise to see you can learn from your mistakes."

"I will just choose to interpret those very hurtful words as you venting the last of your anger towards the city floor," Minaga smiled unbothered.

"Totally was," Jake nodded.

Minaga smiled lightly as he did an exaggerated bow. "In either case, I believe I have taken up enough of your time... without further ado, let us continue Minaga's Labyrinth!"

With those words, the Unique Lifeform disappeared, and the giant glowing gate at the far end of the room began opening. Out came the mist that restricted all senses and movement, and Jake did not hesitate to close his eyes and send out a Pulse of Perception just as the system message for the floor also popped up.

Welcome to the Thirty-sixth floor of Nevermore: Minaga's Labyrinth (Part 6)

Main objective: Reach the end of the Labyrinth.

Bonus objectives: Complete the floor while selecting and completing the room with the highest difficulty rating at least three times (0/3).

Current progress: Highest difficulty room completed (0/3). End reached (0/1)

Note: More hidden events, achievements, or objectives may be hidden on the floor.

Current Nevermore Points: 28973

Jake read over the description, and coupled with his mental map from Pulse of Perception, Jake did have to admit... this part of the labyrinth was kind of different.