'What Do Your Spies Say?'

Plopping myself tiredly on the ground within the tenth outpost, I lean back against the largest rock structure in the outpost and stare ahead at the fort.

Reinforcements would be arriving in less than a minute but I was currently in a worn and ragged state from all of the different forms of healing that I had been abusing. Most of it was mana related more than health, but this just increased the mental fatigue I was suffering from.

Since I had cleared and claimed the tenth outpost and dealt with five waves of reinforcements along the way, I was officially at level seventy-seven and was honestly pretty proud of the fact that I had survived. Sadly, I had spent the entire time relying on my cordycep skills rather than my actual combat capabilities and general magic. Still, I survived solo.

There was every chance that I could keep waltzing right through the lane but I had no idea how far along Thirteenth Incorporated and Duality Resistance were. If I ended up clearing the last outpost and automatically clear the lane by some chance, I would have shit all over the deal I myself proposed. That would look as bad as if I had shit myself.

[You are doing great, Hack, keep up the good work]

Melpomene's encouragement was honestly appreciated. For some reason I could not help but think that if my friends were here they would play it off as if these results were expected or demanded more than surprising. I, for one, was pretty damn proud of myself!

Even if my family's skills and my own self-training made me roughly equal to most elites in these games in pure combat, to be able to do THIS was an entirely different level from my norm.

Sitting there waiting for the next wave of reinforcement trolls to arrive, I could not help but remember the unlocking challenge for the Elder Oak Passage survival challenge. Fighting my way through ten waves of just goblins for a total of fifty-five with my level, stats, and equipment at the time had taken my everything. Now, I had killed well over a thousand.

Trolls officially had their stats halved when in my presence which was essentially the ultimate cheat for this part of the territory raid. If I kept going I could probably get more titles which would equal a great deal more reputation points to secure my top position with. On the other hand, I was not exactly interested in more titles and reputation right now.

I came here alone to raise my levels back toward the upper ranks of my clan to keep from being overshadowed as the clan founder and now I was one of the highest levels in the entire game. Continuing passed this point would only be wasting time and pissing off my team more than I already had. I literally stole the bonus raid attempt from the others.

Watching the reinforcement timer ticking away, I simply sit there and let my mind wander back over my previous achievements. I could not help but smile as I thought about the hobgoblin warriors and the chieftain I tried to fight solo in the beginning. Getting gored in the stomach, repeatedly thrown around, and that one sucker punch from the chieftain had all hurt like hell. However, I very nearly won those fights with limited skills and abilities.

Sure, Hauntings itself could be considered a hack for new players and the abilities I learned through it had only been mentioned in passing discretion on the forums from other players. However, at the time, that was all I had. Geist and 360 Edge had literally laid the groundwork for everything that I had right now.

Now, I had a small assortment of beginner and intermediate magic spells and skills and the utilitarian ability to fuse my skills and magic together. This was something that anyone could do through practice or through Intelligence and Willpower perks. Luckily, I just happened to be good at it now.

[You are starting to think like an old man, Life Hack]

"Compared to somebody who is only about a year old, I really AM an old man," I taunt in reply to the goddess' teasing. Then, sobering up a little, I say, "I know you can only tell me about things I have already done and not other players or hidden mechanics I have no experience with, but be honest with me. On a scale of one to ten, where do I sit among the super players?"

She did not respond at first as if taking her time in considering whether or not to tell me or whether she could tell me at all. However, after a few moments, I got my answer.

[Now that you are training your so-called super powers, I would roughly measure you at about 5]

I was ranked in the middle of the super power spectrum? What other kinds of monsters are there in this game?! What kind of powers do they have that could be ranked higher than a living plague?!

[You will find out soon enough, little Hack]

Groaning up to my feet and rolling my shoulders to loosen up my body a bit, I say, "That almost sounds like a threat, Melpo. Are you trying to scare me?"

[If you are not scared then it is because I am not trying. If you are scared by just this much then it is because you are weaker than I thought!]

"Someone sure is feeling sassy today," I laugh while walking back out into the tenth outpost's field to await the arrival of the reinforcement trolls. "You're a part of the administration and moderation system with access to my thoughts. AM I SCARED?"

[Excited would be the appropriate word, which worries me. I never knew being overwhelmed was what you are into]

"Whoa, hold on a second and let's just take a step back," I say with a loud booming laugh that was deep and thunderous thanks to my currently enormous body. "First of all, I'm old fashioned. However, if a pretty lady with normal interests can overwhelm me, she might as well have me. Secondly, the only lady I know of capable of such a thing would be you. That being the case, there's no need for you to be worried or jealous since you're the only lady in this game I have seen at night."

[I see what you did there and I'll raise you another nightly visit if you do well in this raid]

Turning around thirty yards out from the tenth outpost as the timer hits zero and reinforcements are called out, I smirk and say, "I don't know… the last time we were intimate you gave me a kiss on the cheek that felt like my face was splashed with acid. Your love hurts, Melpo. I need someone who can be gentle with me."

[I WAS being gentle]

Pushing such terrifying thoughts from my mind, I simply laugh and shake my head while walking forward to deal with the two hundred trolls racing toward me. Channeling electricity into the various blades of my arms and all of my fingers, I leap forward to land easily in the midst of all the trolls and unleash a 360 Arc Geist from all over my body. Over a hundred trolls died on the spot and most of the remainder were left in crippled critical conditions.

Only a few moments later after spraying out a poisonous mist using Air Cannon, I simply stood in place watching the remaining trolls wither away while watching the timer for the next wave. Then, once the next wave was released and flitted through the lane from the fort as if being thrown at me, I turned around and started a childish race. I wanted to see if the system that propelled the trolls at a hack-like speed toward the raid players would be able to keep up with my hulk form.

I was basically an entire kilometer away from the starting line and started running at a dead sprint. The trolls, though, remained right behind me the entire time while the system abused its own rights to try and make a confrontation. However, even when passing through the next outpost all I had to do was leap and I could easily clear the buildings in my way.

Each leap alone could cover about thirty yards, rendering the use of Quick and Flash Step almost useless in these conditions. However, no matter how fast I moved the trolls seemed to always stay just outside of their skills' ranges. This was probably due to a balancing act of the raid's system in regards to fleeing players.

It was also just as likely that this was just an effect of how fast I was in this giant form because the trolls themselves could naturally run at speeds greater than most players.

After leaping over the first outpost while the trolls were forced to spread out through and around the icy rock structures, I finally cheated the system to test my initial theory and cast Flash Step. I almost instantly appeared just a few yards shy of the starting line. Then, as if proving my theory, the trolls almost instantly appeared a few tens of yards behind me.

The system kept these trolls within reach of the raid party, just as I thought. Another light hop and the world turns a vaguely blurred silvery gray as if I were using Fast Travel. The lane went back to its default setting from outside the lane and the world came back into focus to show my entire team gathered together only a dozen or so yards away. Along with them were two familiar groups of people.

I had no choice but to ignore the long lists of rewards and achievements I acquired thanks to the presence of these extras.

"Well, this is one secret that is no longer secret," I murmur in my monstrously deep hulk voice after dropping the jaws of Little Thirteen and Donna's groups who were currently hanging out with my party having a loose picnic of sorts. Then, right before their very eyes I released my hulk form.

My once crystallized mana supporting the extra mass of my hulk form broke down into a gaily glittery vapor that rose out from my body as I slowly but steadily shrank down to my natural size. Chipped and jaggedly broken bodily weapons began breaking off from most areas of my body as I became too small to maintain all of them. However, since they were now permanent products they simply scattered about the ground around me instead of turning into dust like most mob bodies and broken materials.

Stretching my arms up over my head and yawning mightily, I lean back and feel my back pop several times before finally straightening up and giving everyone gathered a bored look while walking forward.

Then, stopping just a few yards away from the 'picnic' of people enjoying a variety of foods, I swiftly snatch Hauntings up out of its scabbed across my back and stab the point easily into the frozen rock ground so that I can rest my hands on the hilt and lazily ask, "How much did you see?"

I honestly felt like Sir Beryl using my giant sword stuck in the ground to intimidate the other players and could not help but wonder at how effective it was. Everybody from the other clans besides Mr. Thirteen and Donna were staring at me with various forms of anxiety. It was honestly somewhat pleasing to see the effect I was having on these people.

"Aside from an even bigger and uglier version of your face than usual, not much," Donna replies fearlessly, drawing an interesting looking spiral wand that looked almost like a unicorn horn if not for being made out of ancient looking petrified wood instead of ivory. The wand itself emitted a faint sense of pressure and power as if it were an entity all on its own, chock full of untapped energy and potential that was on the verge of exploding out. It even gave me a slight chill at the back of my neck.

While I had faced numerous mobs with magical abilities, I had yet to face an actual mage in the game and was curious about how I would measure up in a magic only fight. Of course, with my movement speed and raw physical attack power even without the hulk form I was not worried about overpowering a mage. As well, I had several defensive skills and could come up with basic elemental manipulations to partially counter what my products were not aligned with.

"I did not see anything I have not seen already from you," Mr. Thirteen replies casually, calmly eating a large slice of pie while climbing to his feet without using his hands. "You're always running off solo to fight bosses and mobs of mobs, don't pretend that this is anything new for you. But, I agree with Ms. Donna that you're ugly as hell in big mode."

Shrugging my shoulders, I uproot my sword and once again sheathe it over my shoulder- a little awkwardly due to its size- before walking forward to wordlessly join the picnic. Then, picking up a large two-tier cake I combine my transforming ability with Overeating to shove the entire thing in my mouth and swallow it whole.

"Alright, shows over, what are you doing here?" I ask flatly after disturbing the gathered groups once again with a show of gluttony that raised Overeating by a level.

Looking as unfazed as ever, Mr. Thirteen simply says, "Well, we came to celebrate. Thanks to Mr. Leo's overpowered food, both Ms. Donna's and my own raid parties have made it well beyond the troll forts and I wanted to inform my allies in this raid that we will be crossing the finish line in the next day or two. We've been discussing farming when, exactly, to do so because of how valuable farming this lane can be as well as how far and fast the other clans can get in that time."

"What do your spies say?" I ask with blunt curiosity, knowing this man had to have at least a full party's worth of spies in all of the other top clans.

*