Chapter 1171 – Prep Grinding 12 – Dropping Up


    “What do you see when looking at me?” Nia suddenly asked.


    ‘A gorgeous blonde with an emotional display issue,’ John thought, but did not speak it out loud. To start with, Nia’s emotional display had reached human levels by now. Certainly, she still stared longer, pondered longer, and gestured less than the average person. It was just no longer to such a degree that she appeared alien. That was entirely the work of her nature now.


    Secondly, that question was not aimed at him.


    “It depends on the intensity at which you use your powers,” Lorelei responded. “At this moment, I see your form clearly, albeit your intentions are veiled even to me. When you fight intensely, your form blurs and brightens until there is naught left beyond a white void. It is dizzying, to speak the truth.”


    “Good,” Nia nodded.


    “I... uhm...” Lorelei looked to John for help. The Gamer said nothing, only raised an eyebrow. Either Lorelei would muster the courage to ask what was good about being dizzy or Nia would recognize her mistake. In any case, there was no need for John to play translator. Arguably, it would even be harmful if he did. No two of his haremettes should ever require someone between them to communicate.


    After about ten seconds of awkward and amused silence, Nia spoke up again, “It is good that you can see me. Not that I dizzy you.”


    “Ah,” Lorelei nodded, “it is indeed fortunate. I have not had much contact with magical blanks. It is odd to be unable to read someone’s character, so I apologize if I ever misunderstand you.”


    “I apologize when I am unclear,” Nia responded.


    While the two of them exchanged some more pleasantries, John gazed down a massive shaft that had appeared at the side of the boss arena. It led straight down. Gazing into it revealed nothing but darkness. He bowed over the edge, wondering if they were expected to take the leap.


    “This looks like... like an absolutely terrible idea,” Gnome commented on the thought crossing his head.


    “Ya mean fun,” Rave ‘corrected’.


    “It is a terrible idea,” John agreed. “Honestly, this whole Raid is making me realize how many MMOs are filled with terrible ideas. I usually just auto-pilot through quests and dungeons in games, but there’s a lot that wouldn’t fly were it not for game mechanics...” The Gamer was specifically remembering a bunch of times where a straight drop was used to transition between areas. No sane person would ever jump down a shaft into uncharted territory. Without a way back up, any expedition would have ended there until they procured some rope. When death wasn’t a factor, respawning became a viable way to get back up.


    Which was exactly the case here. “Last one on the other side does the dishes!” Salamander declared and jumped straight down the hole. Sylph followed swiftly, as did the other daring or less caring members of the harem. One by one, everyone dropped down the shaft, until only John, Lorelei, Aclysia and Beatrice leftwere .


    “May I ask why you remain?” Lorelei asked the maids.


    John mustered his resolve and moved onto the edge of the platform they had landed on. It was an obvious safe zone. A particularly intense purple line ran down along the edge, separating it visually from the comparatively narrow path ahead.


    “You should really work on your speed,” Metra called him out, just when he was about to take a step ahead. “No need to worry if you could manoeuvre as well as we do.”


    “Be thankful that I ‘suck’ at this,” he returned. “Gaia has to balance these Raids around me being able to beat them. You all can’t progress unless I get through.” There was no witty retort to that. At least not in time for John to realize the content of these words. The Raid was designed so he could beat it. As long as he did his best, this parkour would be like all other ones.


    With that certainty in mind, John started running. He could hear several of the turrets nearby adjust and aim at him. A variety of arcane missiles were launched at him, each spawning with a ringing, metallic sound. John kept his eyes on the path ahead and relied on the sight of his Extension and familiars to warn him of incoming hits instead. He would have loved to rely on his Aura Sense, but that only registered the elements and other people. Arcane projectiles fell in neither category. At best he could hope to trace the air disturbance, but that was not powerful enough a sensation to rely on while he was sprinting.


    Magus Step was the lifesaver, like usual when it came to challenges of mobility. One moment to the next, John teleported forwards, escaping the first wave of projectiles. He didn’t stop running. The solid stone under his feet continued on. Jagged walkways were John’s path. The gaps between were too deep and the area covered by the barrages too wide to lose time jumping down anywhere.


    Disengaging with the strategy mindset he usually had was difficult, but video games taught more than just one modus operandi. The only challenges were the next ten steps. Any thought beyond that was a threat to properly executing what he immediately had to do. By treating each step like a note in a rhythm game, John gave himself fully to the ‘zone’; reactions and instincts took over.


    ‘Always forward,’ he thought, mindlessly leaping over the edge of the building. Gravity turned and so did he, his feet hitting the underside of a massive bridge. A knot of paths lay before him, less a labyrinth than an unnecessary complicated path with a definitive start and end. All he had to do was keep moving. There were no intersections.


    He emerged on the other side in relative safety. Still the barrages rained down on where he was and where he would be, forcing him to serpentine and teleport. Behind him, the harem followed, spaced out so as to not get caught up in the attacks aimed at one another.


    Five minutes, ten minutes, thirty minutes, a whole hour, the Gamer kept on running. There was no opportunity to stop at any point. Two hours, then three, without rest. Even as a superhuman, going at top speed for so long started to wear him down. What kept him going, aside from the obvious threat that he had to restart from the first platform if he collapsed, was his hurt pride. Throughout the entire advance, every single one of the haremettes he had started in front of had pulled ahead of him. Beatrice had even made it a point to drop back, to keep providing her eyesight.


    John jumped forwards and rolled, escaping another barrage narrowly. Magus Step was on cooldown, so all he could do was get on his feet again as fast as possible. The city was below, the sky was above, for once gravity functioned as it should be, but he would have gleefully exchanged a confused sense of direction for the hell he found himself in. The road was straight and surrounded by pylons that directed energy beams at him. The ground was scorched, yet fundamentally unharmed, by the arcane lasers.


    “VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!” The sound boomed in John’s ears while he rapidly made his way around one laser and then used Magus Step, just as it came off cooldown, to dodge the next barrage. In the distance, he spotted his harem waiting for him, standing still and safe at the foot of a massive, circular building that reminded distantly of Greek temples due to the many pillars around its rim.


    Three things spurred John on. First was the promise of being done with running. Second and third was the pair of massive tits that Salamander presented at the finishing line. Cupped and pressed together, her incredibly large, red breasts jiggled with each enticing bounce.


    John focused in on those tits and let them be his marker. The closer he got, the more he could make out their details. Each ripple that went through the squishy funbags. The way Salamander’s fingers dug into them. The reflection of the sun on the skin glistening with her oily sweat. Her hard nipples cutting through the air.


    Before he knew it, he leapt out of harm’s way, avoiding the final barrage and landing with his face in a very soft space. “Someone’s hot for some action,” Salamander cackled, while John straddled her chest and unzipped his pants.


    “I earned myself a reward for that!” he gasped from exhaustion. “God, I hate parkour sections!”


    At least he had arrived.