The Path of Ascension

PoA: Minkalla Chronicles Floor 4

Minkalla Chronicles Floor 4

Kristan breathed slowly through the snow and blinked as quietly as she could, trying to see what was going on around her without giving away that she was still alive.

Letting her eyes unfocus, she checked her surroundings as best she could without using her spiritual perception, which might be felt by the others.

Spring had fallen, or at least, was in the process of falling, but she didnt want to get captured.

During the defense, she had earned quite a bit of Genesis Energy, and she didn't want to lose her spoils.

When the Winter Fae moved over her, she sprung into action, clutching her abdomen where a sword had been thrust through her.

Without hesitation, she threw herself off the wall and down to the ground, relying on her Concept to control her fall enough that she wouldnt break anything when she landed.

Arrows started to pepper her from the Fae near the wall, but she was able to dodge most of them with a lateral movement.

The second she landed, she took off in a sprint into the distant woods.

A mile had never seemed so far until she had to run through a hostile army.

As her feet pounded in counterpoint to her beating heart, she made it into the woods and started looking for any areas that werent dominated by snow.

She needed to find a healer for her wound, sooner rather than later. The healing potion she had downed wasnt going to cut it.

Thankfully, she had traded for some [Bandage] talismans before entering Minkalla, and after putting one on each side of her abdomen, she felt ready to continue.

She started planning as she moved. Spring might have lost, but there were opportunities even in defeat, if she could gather enough of the survivors and organize a resistance.

Winter might hold a temporary advantage, but she was sure that the remnants of Spring could start harassing them, and eventually take them out at the knees.

It would just take time, preparation, and planning. All things she excelled at.

***

Leo had always thought he was a pretty good fighter.

His parents had spared no expense when raising him, and the incredible amounts of money that two Tier 38s could muster had proven their worth. His Talent wasnt that crazy, sure, but it was combat-relevant and hed gotten his Concept at Tier 6. Hed come in first place in several global tournaments hosted by the local Guilds, beating even their Hero candidates. He could consistently delve up a Tier or two in rifts, even on his own.

And compared to the other Winter cultivators, locked in an intense showdown with the Fall General, he felt like he was a child. They were a tenth his age and a Tier below him, and yet the water mage from the Sects was wielding two ribbons of water like they were extensions of her arm, dancing gracefully with the floating streams like they hadnt just shorn through solid stone not a second prior.

Some man from the Corporations had cauterized what was left of his arm to keep from bleeding out, but being down a limb and a half hadnt so much as made him skip a beat. White, the de facto leader of Winter, was locked in some kind of grappling contest with the seemingly-unstoppable monster, seemingly holding on with sheer grit against a creature two Tiers above him and with a Domain strong enough to shatter Leos with its mere presence.

Leo flinched as an arrow seemed to materialize out of thin air, only noticing it thanks to the second arrow that had shot it from the air. His opponent took the chance to try and sneak in a [Fireball], but Leo froze the flames into a solid mass and knocked them back at his foe with a solid thwack of his staff. She tried to block, but her shield was hasty after a failed attempt to use [Fire Manipulation] on the projectile and broke under the strain. Leo took advantage of her stumble by leaping into the air, bringing an icicle spear down on the disoriented woman.

She went down, like a normal person should when speared through the chest.

White, meanwhile, went flying, and Leo was forced to duck out of the way or risk having his head taken off. He could already see the mana building up around the Herald of Winter signaling the man wasnt dead despite having just taken a presumably direct hit from the General.

Leo shook his head. Well, at least opportunities for mere mortals like him still abounded.

***

Natalie felt powerful. Her time in the third floors challenge had paid off in a major way, and she could now push her Concept to empower anything in her body to a truly incredible degree. She could sharpen her eyes to see impossibly far one second, then empower her muscles enough for her to outrun the wind, step across blades of grass, and even crash through stone.

It was incredibly taxing to her willpower, but that was a small price to pay for such power. And she had the perfect opportunity to flex her new strength right in front of her.

When presented with the options for Courtly Warfare, she had chosen Fall. The spokesbeings had said that Spring had already fallen, and Winter was winning, limiting how much Genesis Energy she could feasibly earn from either. Summer wasnt really appealing to her as a spy, but better wind magic wasnt half bad.

And so, she stood on the wall of Falls capital, watching as Winters army descended upon them. Gliders soared across the night sky, shot down by ranged attacks and sending their riders plummeting to the ground below. The Fae attacked from the ground, unending waves of fodder supported by Winters Cultivators and that absolute monster of a General, and Natalie was waiting for them.

She wasnt foolish enough to actually try and fight the Winter General. Doing so would be outright suicide, but there were more than enough Liutenants for her to take down. Between her Genesis Energy cultivation and Concept, she was perhaps the baseline strongest mortal fighter on the battlefield, but overwhelming strength didnt make her a fighter. So, she stayed invisible as much as possible, striking out with a dagger whenever an opportunity presented itself. One strike, one kill.

She wasnt sure if it was doing anything, but she made sure that her Talent determined that every attack she made was incredibly impactful. That each strike was the kill that would turn the tides of battle, and even the war itself. Each kill brought with it a wave of Genesis Energy and Favor alike, and she felt her Boon rise up within her, morphing and settling into new abilities. Not a Title quite yet, but shed have one by the end of this battle, she was certain.

***

Winters First General stalked the battlefield. There had been whispers of shame among the nobility, that he had not yet claimed a Name for himself. However, he had a lofty goal: complete dominance, utter victory. Spring fell before him, so too should Autumn. But once Summer fell, and Winter was triumphant, then and only then would he accept the laurels of his victory. But first, this battle must be won.

Autumn had raised a champion of its own, a pale reflection of himself, yet a worthy foe nonetheless. He yearned to face his peer, to pit their courts against one another and show himself superior, yet he could not. Others were managing to contain the General, reducing the danger he posed to the war.

Thus, he sought after a different target. Winters winds whispered to him of a warrior of surpassing skill, whose presence threatened the battle and war alike. They spoke of mighty blows removing key Lieutenants and Newcomers alike, and clearing massive portions of Winters attackers single handedly. This warrior would be the next to fall to his blade, and only then could he engage the other General.

It was odd. He would have expected the presence of such a warrior to be utterly unmistakable, a bastion of carnage as they harvested the weak and indelibly changed the tide of battle around them. Yet he simply could not find them. He was in the right area, yet no candidates were apparent. Some attempted to attack him, yet their efforts were impotent, and none revealed themselves as his true target.

At last, he found her. He did not believe his eyes at first. The woman was invisible and well-hidden, but that was no hindrance to him. No, what he could not comprehend was the complete lack of impact she was having upon the battle. She struck true, yes, but it was always opportunistic against wounded or straggling targets, not the key figures Winter insisted she was fighting. He was thorough in checking for what mistake he must be making, what underlying pattern he must be missing yet nothing became apparent.

She was trivially easy to kill, and as she died, Winter was satisfied that he had removed the last obstacle to their victory.

He did not understand, but spared it no further thought.

***

Get a move on already! Chuck called out to the front of the line, not that the one holding everyone up could hear him. He was waiting in a column of other people to get into the challenge room crystal, which someone had found a few weeks ago. Challenge rooms were a little different on Courtly Warfare, since sharing information between people was easy, and whenever one was found away from the front lines, off duty people lined up to try them out. It was typically an easy way to get Favor and Genesis Energy, and occasionally some cool new toys.

Today was the Empires turn, and he had secured a place near the front through a carefully sabotaged flying sword. Riding on top of his lightning tiger, who he named Richard, he was a good six feet above anyone else, which gave him an excellent view of the current source of his ire.

Challenge rooms multiplied the Genesis Energy put into them if their challenge was beaten, and while it was only possible to do them once, that was tracked per person rather than per party. It was a concept which Minkalla only occasionally recognized. If multiple people in a party thought they could do the challenge alone, they could potentially get an enormous payout by transferring all of their Genesis Energy to one person, then get their wager multiplied by completing the challenge. The group could then repeat the process for each member of the party, though of course Minkalla didnt allow anything too egregious, and limited the total amount of Genesis Energy someone could get from a single challenge room. Theoretically, the chain could continue across parties for enormous gains, but trust between parties broke down well before any payoffs became too ridiculous.

Swathes of broken trees surrounding this room testified to that fact.

The other downside, from Chucks perspective, was that the silly birds took too long doing the challenge, since only one group could be in a challenge room at a time.

After what felt like ages, Chuck saw the glowing crystal go dark, which signified that the challenge was done, but no one popped out. Well, that could only mean one thing, and the girl standing near the front, waiting for her boyfriend or whatever to come back out, broke down into sobs once she put together what had happened.

Finally! Come on, hurry it up, I dont got all day! Look lady, if your hubby had to be a little weakling, couldnt he have done us all a favor and been through with it a bit quicker? Im dying of old age out here! Chuck called out, laughing at his own joke. He winked at the woman behind him in line, trying to get a smile out of her, but she only glared daggers at him.

Whatever, dumb bitch.

At least he could have a good time by himself.

As he approached the mouth of the cave, after a few more people had gone through the challenge, he got off his [Summon Mana Monster] mount. His father had expertly modified the skill to make singularly powerful lightning summons. He brought out his lightning glaive and started going through forms, limbering up before he needed to fight the thorn-wolves that this challenge offered. The crackle from electricity dancing off his blade mostly covered up the whoosh noises he made with his mouth as he swung it around he was pretty sure.

It wasnt all that long before the person ahead of Chuck finished the challenge, and came out of the crystal to a lightshow of Genesis Energy pouring out for him, along with a few skill shards. Not a bad haul, really.

As Chuck was finishing up his forms, his shaft clipped the still crying woman who was kneeling by the big crystal, and that was when he was done being polite.

Could you move out of the way, girl? Some of us have things to do. Go cry in a corner or something, so long as we dont have to see you there ruining your makeup. He accompanied this by leaning against the crystal with one hand, resting his weapon on the opposite shoulder.

It took her a few seconds, but eventually, she gathered herself together enough to respond. What kind of-. But before she could get any further in her little rant, Chuck pushed his Genesis Energy into the crystal and disappeared into the challenge.

At least for a little while, all he had to deal with were the snapping jaws of thorn-wolves, which he mostly found preferable to the company outside. There was no rush, really. All that mattered here was how thoroughly he eradicated the wolves. With a small pop, he resummoned Richard, who gave a thunderous roar as the wolves circled.

***

Alvin cursed as the order from the Tier 12s came down.

They were retreating. It was his worst fear, and it caused him to burn with indignation.

He didnt care if the precious little geniuses were leaving. No, that didnt bother him at all. He cared about the fact they were ordered to leave the city, and leave it undefended against the assault from Winter, just so those at the top could leave a little sooner.

It was Genesis Energy they were leaving on the table, just out of reach.

Even if they only fought in some skirmishes, they could have earned themselves a tidy sum of it. Not enough to take the exit reward, but enough to get them close.

He was angry, but there was nothing he could do.

In fact, all the Tier 13s and Tier 14s who were staying on the floor were angry, but there was nothing he, nor anyone else could do against a collective group of the strongest people on this floor.

Alvin was good, and so was his team, but they werent that good.

Which was how they and the tens of thousands of others found themselves outside, in the cold, waiting for at least a week after the city fell to ensure that everyone was able to leave.

He wasnt so angry that he couldn't see the upside to the top people leaving. It would, in turn, allow the remaining Tier 14s to be the strongest people on the floor, and give them an unprecedented level of safety.

After a week of waiting that felt more like a year, they were finally given the all-clear, and together, went and stormed their own city.

Winter fae were on the walls, and they slaughtered them by the thousands.

Genesis Energy flowed like a river, but despite there being so many of them, it wasnt enough for Alvin and his team to earn themselves their exit reward.

But they were getting closer.

***

Cassie walked up to the Fae behind the counter and said the dreaded words. I want to make a deal.

That got the creepy monster's attention, and it sat up with its golden hair and pitch black eyes staring at her like it could see her deepest thoughts.

What do you desire, petitioner? And what do you offer?

The smile it gave her might have been friendly, if she didnt know exactly how strong these deals were.

Cassie knew this was a bad idea, but opened her mouth anyway. I want to trade my vision for one hundred years after I leave this floor, in exchange for the largest possible increase in my vision for the duration of this floor.

The Faes smile grew larger. Wider. Almost feral.

Still, it didn't speak for an unnervingly long time.

Finally, after it inspected her and the bow on her back, it said, The deal is struck.

As soon as the words passed its lips, she felt a searing pain assault her eyes, but even as she fell to the ground in agony, she could tell her eyes were better than before.

Even with her eyes closed, she could see every vein in her eyelids, and could even see through both them and her hand, at least to a degree.

Struggling to her feet, she knew that she would pay for this ability, but as an archer, she could stomach such a loss for the abilities it would offer her on this floor.

It was better than being sucked into one of the Corporations deals.

The Fae were monsters, but at least they kept to the letter of their bond.

The Corpies always tried to extend the deal in some way.

No, shed rather Minkalla take her sight for a while. Even if she wasnt sure how that worked once she left, she knew from historical documentation that the effect would end exactly at the agreed-upon time.

And if she got her Concept, she was immortal.

What was one hundred years to someone who could live forever?

***

As he packed his bags, Jullian thought about himself.

Jullian Escgo was a businessman.

His father was a businessman, his mother was a businessman, both of their parents were businessmen.

It ran in the blood.

And he was good at it.

From the moment he had been able to walk, he had been immersed in the family's various enterprises, learning everything there was to know about the lifeblood of civilization.

Money.

By age ten, he had already orchestrated a hostile takeover of his elementary school's simulated city.

By age twelve, he had campaigned his way onto the student council, despite being younger than any other council member.

By age fourteen, he had blackmailed the previous CEO of the council out of the position, and smoothly stepped in as the youngest ever CEO of Etranas number 1 private academy.

At age sixteen, he had created a company that helped students better optimize their social media accounts and gain more followers. A saturated market, yes, but a profitable one, if you could muscle into the cutthroat world.

By age nineteen, he had sold that company to a megacorp for seventy Giga credits and an internship at one of their branch companies. During his time working for them, he discovered that the CEO of the branch was fabricating sales by repackaging returned merchandise. After a year of planning and maneuvering himself into the shipping department, he broke the news. As expected, the company burned to the ground, while he and his parents' companies snatched up the best assets from the corpse, along with a treasure trove of goods he had squirreled away during his time as one of the shipping clerks.

By age thirty, he had taken his parents company out of their Tier 7 world, and fought his way into the neighboring Tier 11 planet's industry.

By age thirty six, he had funded a new research design that allowed for cheaper air transportation for items smaller than a human head. Which, in turn, allowed them to dominate the local market for small parcel transportation, along with the food delivery markets.

By age forty five, he had earned his first Tera Credit, and was published as the number one upcoming star by one of the Tier 45 newsletters.

By age seventy, he had branched out his companies into a dozen fields across a hundred planets, but he had finally hit a wall.

Tier 15.

Immortality.

The battlefields of mortals were childrens playgrounds when compared to the battlefields that the immortals inhabited.

Not only was there a substantial earning gap between the two worlds, he was also forced to contend with people who had been playing the game since before his grandparents were born.

As long as he stayed in the kiddie pools, the big boys didnt touch him or squabble over the scraps he claimed, but once he reached Tier 15, he would be fair game.

Except, Jullian refused to be like the other 99.992% of businessmen who were bought out or swallowed up when they reached immortality.

So, he decided to come to Minkalla.

Not a new idea by any means, but he had more ambition than most of his peers.

The general strategy was to gather money from the Tier 14s who exited the fourth floor, near the end of the cycle, and sell them excess Genesis Energy that the merchants had bought from earlier delvers that would have otherwise gone to waste.

The aspiring merchants would then turn those bargains into steady income for the next two centuries, and use that to ease their transition into the battlefield of immortals.

Half of the income of a few thousand people wasnt an insubstantial revenue stream, and it would allow both more aggressive undercutting of his rivals, and the funding of at least two teams of mercenaries. The protection they provided from the literal spears and swords of his competitors would be key for his company.

At least, that was the normal tradition.

A fourth-floor Courtly Warfare had very much thrown a wrench into his plans.

It was a floor with theoretically unlimited Genesis Energy, which meant less people would be willing to buy Genesis Energy from him.

Or so he had thought.

With Winter's absolute domination of the floor, things had changed, offering him a chance to enact his most ambitious plan yet.

There was a reason he had come into Minkalla as a Tier 12. A new Innate skill slot wasnt that useful for most people in his profession.

He didnt have a Talent for combat, crafting, or even an elusive social Talent that would have allowed him to make better sales. Therefore, he rarely relied on skills at all. When he delved, he did so while being carried by a team of respected mercenaries that had a reputation for running people like him through rifts with zero risk.

But there was one skill every businessman relied on. [Assistative Intelligence].

Whether it be an F-series like he currently had, or the proper Tier 26 version, everyone used it. And if he moved his artificial version into his Innate skill slot, Jullian would be able to merge the real version with the false one in the future, giving him an advantage over his competitors.

An edge.

Everyone needed one, and an Innate [AI] would be his.

Well, that was his plan, anyway.

If he could gather enough Genesis Energy on the fourth floor, he had the chance to then go straight to the deepest floor of Minkalla in a final mad dash, to hopefully make it big with minimal risk.

The Genesis Energy scaling made what he wanted to do almost an impossibility, but he had routinely done the almost impossible. And the risk would be lower, as the other delvers would have already killed most of the monsters.

A fourth floor Courtly Warfare was generally a bad thing, but with Winter's dominance over the floor, he once more had a glimmer of hope.

The initial outflow of Winter delvers had earned him a fortune of Genesis Energy, even with the natural treasures, items, and deals he had made to collect it. That had all been easily made up for by the Tier 14s of the other seasons, who had only wanted to leave the floor as fast as possible.

But any of the ones who had stayed realized the folly of that choice. No one wanted to stay on this floor with the death god that was the newly-named Hypernike, the Winter General that stalked the frozen lands.

The Fae had already killed four other generals one by one, and had slaughtered thousands of cultivators who had thrown themselves at him in an attempt to break Winter's hold over the floor.

Normally, when a faction won, the delvers who made such a victory possible left their faction, which was in turn quickly routed. But that hadnt happened with Winter.

No, that would have been too typical, and nothing had been typical on this floor during this cycle.

While Summer had quickly retaken their city, they discovered their attempt at meeting Winter's soldiers in an open battle was pointless.

The first Summer army had been decimated, and the cultivators were sent running back into the small area that their court still held around their capital.

Then, Spring had risen up with their own General, but Hypernike had cut the other Fae down before entombing the city in ice, left only stronger for his victory.

That had forced the floor to a grinding halt.

Everyone from three Seasons, Fae and cultivator alike, had banded together and struck back at the overlord of the floor.

The massive battle that occurred had rocked the floor, and while the other two Generals of Winter had died, Hypernike had cut his way through the other Generals, and then slaughtered the survivors of the other three factions.

At that point, people had started turning to him.

No one wanted to fight the immortal ice General if they could help it, but that also meant they werent earning Genesis Energy.

So, Jullian happily sold it to them.

More than a few were very unhappy with the anti-theft measures he took, but in the end, they really couldn't complain about a small transmitter embedded into their skulls.

It kept everyone honest.

When they left Minkalla, the Corporations moon would be notified of the deal they struck in its entirety. The amount of time they had to delve, the frequency, and most importantly, the person they were indebted to.

While it was possible to pull the transmitter out without the proper tool, it was both dangerous and risky while inside Minkalla, so few took the risk.

It was a spider-like device that would wrap around their brain stem, after all, and it wouldnt unwrap until it had gotten the proper receipt message. That message would only be transmitted by the Corporations' moon once they left Minkallas depths.

And with Hypernike running rampant, along with the Tier 14s wanting to get out of his way, Jullian made every deal he could.

It was a net loss of Genesis Energy, which would slow his plan to delve deeper, but that would be ok.

After all, he would eventually earn even more Genesis Energy than he spent now, from those that had and would fight the armies of Winter, and then amongst themselves.

It was just a question of if he could skim enough off the top to reach the bottom floor.

If he was the only merchant, he would be more successful, but there were currently seven others trying to ply the same trade. Of course, he had never been afraid of competition from his peers.

He had already broken Samantha's reputation by exposing one of her more predatory deals, and he was undercutting everyone but Avery to ensure that most of the Genesis Energy was flowing into his rings. But most importantly, he was traveling where the others didnt dare risk their lives. Outside the cities.

Jullian had done the math. It was possible for him to have enough Genesis Energy after monopolizing most of this floor's profits.

He would just have to wait and see.

And with another battle on the horizon, he needed to get into position sooner rather than later.

***

Xares moment was at hand. He hadnt understood his Talent when he had first gotten it, but his parents had explained the value of it in time. He had spent centuries preparing for Minkalla, ready to take advantage of his one and only advantage in life.

You will not die as a result of reaching Tier 15 in Minkalla.

An oddly specific Talent, and one that promised such grand prizes for the only person to ever become immortal within The Forge and survive the process. Not even Mighty Minkalla could override or affect Talents, he knew he was safe.

And if he was not, well, he would never amount to anything else, not with such an otherwise useless Talent.

And now, it was time for his life to be fulfilled. A squad of Summer cultivators stood before him, advancing and trusting in their superior numbers to eliminate him. But numbers were fruitless against the might of an Immortal, and he would show them! He would show them all!

You have signed your death warrants! he cried, and gave his spirit the last push it needed to trigger his fifteenth Tier.

Essence rushed into his cores, redoubling, tripling, quadrupling his might. Genesis Energy even mixed itself into his onrush of essence, providing the most potent increase in strength that he had ever experienced. A laugh ripped its way past his throat, and he reached out to grasp and crush the skull of his closest attacker.

Then, the pressure started. It felt like the sudden realization he had caught the attention of something vast and so powerful, it could shatter his spirit and crush him like a fly. His Talent may seem absolute, but next to the absolute might of the presence around him, it may as well have been dust in the wind.

The pressure built, and built, and built

Pop!

Xares world became a jumble of colors and chaos, and he felt himself pushed in an insistent and sudden pressure that left the battlefield behind, and deposited him

Right outside of Minkalla.

***

Adam pulled his blade out of a Winter Fae and blocked the arrow he felt coming at him, just in time to dodge the ice blade that almost took off his leg.

In a great melee like this battle between Winter and the other three seasons, space was at a premium, and he was proud of his well honed skills that allowed him to avoid so much damage.

But, as it turned out, dodging that blow was a mistake.

A blade from behind cut deep into his neck as he got in the way of someone else's swing.

***

Belinda cursed as the man in front of her jumped backward without checking his rear.

This was a battle with nearly a million people fighting in it, and the idiot was jumping around like he was alone.

It was a good thing he was from Spring, as she really didnt want to lose any Favor because of one idiots actions.

She was so close to earning herself a boon, so she didnt want anything getting in her way.

Belinda thrust forward and caught a Fae in the chest. Ripping her blade out sideways, she felt the rush of Genesis Energy that confirmed its death flow into her, and she smiled.

She hadnt been fast enough to this floor to leave with the floor reward when the gate was open, but she didnt mind. She might have been a little slower than the front runners, but she only wanted the sixth exit reward anyway, so she didnt need that much Genesis Energy.

As she went to lunge forward once again, she slipped in some of the blood that had turned even the icy ground to mud.

She curled up and tried not to get stomped, but it didnt help.

Boot after boot pressed on her as her own comrades marched forward.

***

Calvin felt a burst of Genesis Energy and Favor as he released his bow and smiled.

His last arrow must have landed.

It was hard to know exactly if his blows were landing in the ever changing battle, and he wished he could fly to compensate, but the air was currently a battlefield for the Generals.

Winters General fought three on one and was finally losing, but he was putting up a good, retreating defense that kept the others from taking him out.

Drawing and releasing his bow, he channeled [Arrow Rain] into the projectile and let it loose.

As the arrow reached its zenith, it split and came crashing down on the backlines of the Winter Fae.

Genesis Energy trickled in as some of the privates died, and he smiled.

This was why he was an archer. He could do devastating damage from the rear, where it was safe.

It was perfect.

As a commotion off to the side caught his attention, he sent his spiritual perception over there and frowned.

A Winter cultivator was running from a half dozen mixed cultivators and charging through their lines like they were nothing but paper walls.

Wanting to get out of the man's way before he was caught up in the fight, Calvin jumped backwards and retreated.

As the man ran through the opening, Calvin saw him drop something that fluttered, and he instantly reacted, throwing himself to the ground just before the talisman exploded.

He coughed as he felt something burning hit him in the chest, and he looked down at the hole that appeared right over his heart.

Twisting, he saw a fragment of someone's sword behind him, stuck into the ground and covered with blood.

His blood.

***

Daisy jumped through the air and used the explosion of her talismans to push her forward and over the front lines of the fight.

She had never regretted anything more than choosing Winter in her entire life.

She thought that she would be able to quickly gather enough Genesis Energy with her side dominating, but she had learned her mistake quickly, when she discovered that Winter was losing its dominant position instead of holding strong.

Still, she was strong herself, and with her stash of talismans, she was able to make a difference with her hit and run tactics on the enemy back lines.

Daisy had just landed when the Generals above seemed to explode.

A wave of power came out of seemingly nowhere, and vaporized the surroundings.

***

Alvin coughed out blood as the explosion rocked the landscape.

At least half of his ribs were broken and he was seriously wounded. His AI, even limited as it was, flashed report after report, but he could do nothing more than lay there.

He tried to reach up and bring a healing potion to his lips, but he was unable to.

His broken body refused to move.

His team had been more fortunate than him and were only knocked away. But his spiritual perception saw them move to retrieve him for only a moment before they turned and ran.

It took him a moment of sweeping the area to understand what they saw. It was a mass of Spring cultivators coming out from the woods and attacking the Summer and Fall factions.

As he coughed up some more blood, a Fall man came over and held a healing potion over his mouth.

Transfer all of your Genesis Energy over to me, and I'll heal you.

Alvin almost died right there in anger, but managed to keep it together long enough to burble out a curse.

He had finally earned enough Genesis Energy to get his exit reward, and now this.

Despite his rage, he still transferred over his Genesis Energy. He couldn't die. Not here. Not so close to his victory. His immortality.

Anything but that.

***

Pedro whistled at the success of their battle.

They had cleanly swept aside all three of the other sides, thanks to Kristans plan of squirreling away some of their people in the forest, far away from the fighting.

The plan had been rejected once, but after the last failed attempt at beating Winter, her plan had been given a shot.

And it worked.

In an hour, Pedro earned more Genesis Energy from the wounded than he had earned in months of brutal fighting and struggling.

They were rich.

After they cleaned up the battlefield, they immediately turned on Spring and Fall, causing massive casualties, while their other teams were sabotaging the other factions' main cities.

It took them four months of brutal fighting, but they managed to take over the other two factions' cities, leaving them only with Winter.

Despite the loss of their main General, they had created another one. This time, it was a mage who harassed their armies right up to the hill before their walls.

Pedro was just pondering the oddity of a random hill placed directly in front of a city, when the hill stood up and revealed itself as a three hundred foot tall polar bear.

As it breathed in, ice started to gather at its maw before it unleashed a devastating beam of ice carved a line through their army.

Pedro turned and ran at the sight, not willing to fight such a monstrosity.

***

Jullian smiled as he collected more and more Genesis Energy from the Spring cultivators.

It had taken them almost a year and a half, but they had finally won, and they were flush with Genesis Energy.

At the floor exit, he bought every bit off them he could.

Healing potions, natural treasures, weapons, armor. Anything that could be exchanged, he bought and sold.

All the while, he put aside a portion of the Genesis Energy for his own uses. He was sacrificing a little short-term gain for his own advancement, which he hoped would prove more valuable.

***

When Han De stepped into the fourth floor, he found himself surrounded by cold and ice.

He had chosen Winter on a whim, even though their representatives spokebeing thing described them as a fallen faction.

He was cold inside, and the bitter chill of Winter fit his heart.

He almost hadnt entered this floor, but he had heard one of his fellow sect mates talking about the reward for the sixth floor, and its ability to merge skills.

That had tempted him, and he decided to push deeper.

What he hadnt expected was a floor-wide war.

Even after everything he had seen in the last year, that surprised him.

Really, the sect master should have warned them of this possibility.

As he appeared outside in the woods, he started scouting around. To his surprise, he wasnt cold, and even the snow underfoot felt comforting instead of chilling.

He was bemused by the forest around him turning into winter as he walked around, but he found nothing else of note.

Just forest in the midst of fall, with the snows of Winter closer at hand.

Nearly a week later, he found a group of others who also created their own little bubbles of winter, and he joined up with them, creating a team and learning of what was going on.

Winter had lost their city, so they appeared outside in the forest.

With a few hundred of them, they banded together and set out to retake the city.

Han De led the charge, and despite arrows and spells nearly taking his life a dozen times, he led the cultivators around him to strike at the fallen city.

That started his conquest, but it didnt end there. From that city, they moved ahead, and with nearly ten thousand cultivators at his side, they stormed Fall, then Spring, taking each city one by one.

Han De knew that most of the delvers who had entered Minkalla had either left or died, leaving little resistance, but he was still proud, as his blade carved a kingdom out for himself.

Battle by battle, he led people who wouldnt have paid him a second glance before to victory.

Each floor of Minkalla had changed him, and he wondered what the latter floors would offer him.

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