Chapter 1253 – Rising Tide

The push to B-grade was the main theme of these times across Earth and in many factions of the multiverse. Those from the new universe were approaching their evolutions, with a rare few having already successfully evolved.

This shared timing wasn’t merely a coincidence or explained away by everyone needing roughly the same amount of time to progress. Instead, it was an expression of Records across the multiverse. A rising tide lifts all boats, and the flood of Records from those evolving to B-grade affected everyone else and helped them evolve as well. These effects were subtle and sometimes seemed unnoticeable, but it was a well-documented phenomenon across the multiverse, and the top factions took advantage.

Another factor was that as some evolved, it motivated others to make the final push as well. The factions, seeing their rivals start to muster a force of newly evolved B-grades, also began pushing for the same thing. Especially in this era, where the stakes were larger than usual.

All factions wanted to contend for the Seat of the Exalted Prima. While there were some favorites who everyone believed had massive advantages, that didn’t stop the major and even minor factions from competing.

No one truly knew how the World Wonder would function. If one could claim a segment of it, a controlling share, or if one person would come to rule it all in the end. Even in the case of only one victor, being in contention left room for negotiation. An opportunity to surrender and, in return, get some kind of influence or usage rights of the World Wonder.

Even in the absolute worst-case scenario where a faction ended up with no control, influence, or anything even vaguely of that vein, taking part in the competition was still worth it for the individuals who competed. There were plenty of Records to reap in events such as these, even for the losers, so the faction that knew they were just taking part to fill in numbers still gladly did so.

As for when the Seat of the Exalted Prima competition would truly restart once more, it remained a question, but the predominant theory was that enough Administrator Candidates had to successfully reach B-grade first. Some also speculated that perhaps just a named few top contenders had to evolve. A list that included the individuals from the new universe who ranked highly in Nevermore… a list that naturally included the one at the top: Jake Thayne.

Someone who was currently having the time of his life and was, according to Minaga, clearing the greatest dungeon in the new universe, one so great that even the World Wonder would appear boring and meaningless in comparison.

A statement Jake perhaps wouldn’t fully agree with.

—

“Okay, we know for sure now he’s being an asshole on purpose, right?” Jake asked while breathing heavily, having just escaped inside yet another construction hole.

“I knew that for sure about twelve Jones Orbs ago,” Casper said, shaking his head. “But hey, I got an upgrade to my movement skill, so I’m not too mad about it.”

“The mere fact you more or less needed an upgrade not to find yourself annihilated by the Jones Orb should tell you something,” Jake muttered.

It had been about ten days since Jake and Casper had killed the first Formation Master, and since then, they’d just gone about the Grand Labyrinth as usual. They killed everything in their path and, using their combined skills, found their way through.

As time went on, they only got faster and were willing to take more risks. They even split up a few times to scout in different directions, using stealth to find the right way faster.

Their increased speed and riskier tactics meant that after only ten days, they had just killed the last Formation Master before going through another teleporter and finding themselves confronted with yet another rolling orb of certain death.

The more of these orbs the two of them encountered, the more certain it became that Minaga had just added them to fuck with Casper and Jake. The damn things had even gotten faster throughout the dungeon, and as Jake said, Casper would have been in trouble at one point if not for a well-timed skill upgrade.

When it came to the other three Formation Masters, the encounters had all been much like the first, though with slightly altered parts. All of them had Elite Guards and a Guard Captain, but the makeup of these guards and captains varied, their weapons were different, and whatnot. That also meant the summoned golems for that phase were different… not that Jake and Casper saw those phases. The Formation Masters were all pretty squishy, and a well-timed use of Event Horizon allowed Jake and Casper to more or less skip an entire part of the encounter.

One other major difference was what happened after they killed the fourth and final Formation Master. The first three had all talked about Jake and Casper being too late, but the last one instead yelled about them having arrived just in time to stop him before he could fully complete his objective.

So, yeah, that entire “on a timer” thing was all smoke and mirrors, just there to introduce artificial urgency. Certainly a prime example of ludonarrative dissonance. Or not, Jake didn’t actually know what that term meant; he just liked to throw it around to sound smart, like so many others.

“Think positively; we’re soon done with the dungeon,” Casper said comfortingly with a smile. “My skills are also telling me the final boss is near, and going by Minaga’s narrative, it must be that shadowy figure who kept leaving messages for his subordinates. On that note, he really should have been stricter about them remembering to destroy those damn envelopes.”

“True,” Jake nodded and let out a sigh of relief. When it came to the final boss, they didn’t know much yet, aside from him being male, as one of the Formation Masters referred to the mysterious final boss as a “he” once.

“You ready to move on, or do you need a few hours to recover?” Jake asked cheekily.

“Hours? With my pathetic meditation skill, I need at least a few days!” Casper shot back.

“Understandable,” Jake nodded, speaking with a serious tone. “Guess I’ll have to clear the rest of the dungeon by myself.”

“If you can find the teleporters, that is,” Casper said, being a little cheeky himself.

“I’ll just bank on there not being any more teleporters,” Jake shrugged. “Or, who knows, maybe if you’re not around, I’ll just randomly stumble into one.”

“Sure, I wouldn’t be surprised if your Bloodline has some hidden luck function boiled into it,” Casper muttered with a defeatist attitude.

“Nah, just overpowered intuition and instincts,” Jake waved him off. “Which, when you think about it, kind of is like a good-luck ability.”

“Talking with you is a fast track to depression,” Casper sighed. “I can’t even lord over you that I have a girlfriend anymore.”

“Hey, don’t be too sad. I admire you two and the undying love you have,” Jake said with a grin. “Get it? Undying love?”

“I should have let that damn orb roll over me,” Casper cursed his existence. “Let’s just go find that boss already and put a bow on this place. Get it?”

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“That was bad.”

“I don’t care.”

The two of them started moving without anymore banter, both at impressive speeds as Jake continuously scanned the area ahead to make sure they wouldn’t stumble into any enemies.

Once Jake spotted some, he motioned with his hand, making Casper use his stealth skill as Jake did the same with his Unseen Hunter. Jake wasn’t sure which of them had the best stealth skill, but just the fact that he wasn’t sure was proof that Casper had a pretty damn good one. Unsurprisingly, considering his Path.

When they finally went around a bend in the Grand Labyrinth, they spotted two Aginians walking side by side. They looked different from any of those prior, with one carrying a large rifle and several other guns of different kinds, while the second had a large tower shield and a lance or spear with a nozzle at its end.